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Ranking Asghar Farhadi Films

Asghar Farhadi is the most renowned of the current Iranian filmmakers. Whenever he makes a new movie, it’s a big deal for most cinephiles. He is excellent at social drama, particularly excelling at realistic dialogue and getting out great performances from his actors. Throughout his career, he’s made nine movies until now and this is my ranking of them all.

9. Dancing in the Dust

Dancing in the Dust was the directorial debut for Asghar Farhadi, and as such it showed a lot of potential, but also many of his worst tendencies. The movie is a competent social drama that benefits from solid dialogue and acting performances, but the overall storyline is nothing to write home about while the central character is extremely unlikable to the point that he hindered the overall film.

8. The Beautiful City

Getting a glimpse into the complicated judicial system of Iran is the highlight of The Beautiful City, a movie that is per usual superbly acted and very well written, especially in its commendable dialogue. It is another solid movie from Farhadi (he’s never really made a bad one), but it also has a problem of the protagonist not being relatable in any way, shape or form. It also has an additional issue of the central conflict being morally questionable.

7. The Past

The Past is a solid, but disappointing Farhadi movie that featured a tremendous first half, but a weaker latter one. While the human drama was at the core of the former as was the amazing dialogue, the soapy twist and turns fueled that second half to the point that the movie became overly messy and melodramatic. It’s well acted and directed, but it needed a better script. Farhadi here succumbed to some of his worst tendencies unfortunately.

6. A Hero

The latest movie from Farhadi is also his most disappointing. It’s especially a letdown as it came out after a string of truly terrific features. The central theme of what it means to be a hero and how these acts are perceived by others is superbly explored in a movie that is also powerfully acted and very well shot. But the reason why it’s far from great lies in its repetitive structure, a highly implausible plot and an overwhelming emphasis on endless misfortunes put upon the main character.

5. Everybody Knows

Everybody Knows is a rare Spanish-language movie from Farhadi and his only real attempt at a thriller. It’s not a great one unfortunately. The performances from Bardem and Cruz are pretty good and the movie is highly effective when emphasizing the dramatic elements, especially the characters’ conversations and emotions. However, whenever it tried to be a suspenseful crime thriller, it failed because it lacked a more energetic and atmospheric tone.

4. Fireworks Wednesday

Fireworks Wednesday is one of the best Farhadi movies released in the early period of the director’s career. While the first half is slower and some of the scenarios were a bit too difficult to believe, the dialogue is as always for this filmmaker a true standout as it’s both raw and extremely realistic, fueled by a couple of emotionally charged sequences that were incredible to witness. The acting performances and the cinematography are both excellent as well.

3. About Elly

About Elly is undeniably the most Iranian movie that Asghar Farhadi has ever directed and by that I mean that it deals with the distinct problems of his home country, particularly focusing on class relations and horrendous gender norms employed there. Thus, it is very specific, but in that specificity it also becomes universal as it paints its characters and situations with so much raw power and heartbreaking emotion. Its seaside setting proved to be a great choice to further emphasize the tumultuous nature of the characters’ chaotic emotions.

2. The Salesman

The performances from Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidoosti are absolutely fantastic and the direction from Asghar Farhadi is simply brilliant in The Salesman, a film where finally the director successfully executed the structure of social drama transitioning into an unbearable thriller. Both worked effortlessly well in this instance. It features such a fascinating dilemma at the center from which so many thought-provoking questions arise. It’s a perfectly constructed and emotionally exhilarating movie that I remember being fascinated by watching it on the big screen in the movie festival back in early 2017 and it has stayed with me ever since. It would have been a number one pick had it not been for…

1. A Separation

Yes, A Separation gets the obvious first spot. It is close between these two movies, but eventually I had to go with the movie where Farhadi truly reached new highs in his storytelling and direction. This movie portrays life as it is – messy and complicated. It depicts divorce as life-shattering as it really is for the family involved while benefiting from stupendous performances across the board and tight editing. The finale is emotionally powerful and simply heartbreaking. A Separation definitely earned its Oscar and it’s one of the best foreign movies of the entire decade. It’s the most accomplished Farhadi film in terms of both technical aspects and storytelling, thus it is number one for me.