Director: Asghar Farhadi
By Alex Watson
Winner of Best Foreign Picture Oscar at this year's ceremony- few directors are as good at showing relationships crumble as Asghar Farhadi. His previous Oscar winner A Separation trod along similar lines, but The Salesman is a far more tense experience. Set against a couple performing in Arthur Miller's Broadway classic 'Death of a Salesman' some complex events off stage will create some difficult decisions.
Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and his wife Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) have both recently moved into a new apartment after being forced to vacate their old home. What starts seemingly good fortune soon becomes a nightmare. The couple learns that this home used to belong to a prostitute and one night Rana is assaulted while taking a shower. Emad becomes obsessed with tracking the man down and enacting vengeance.
The Salesman is a movie that makes its audience think hard about the ramifications of their actions. Opening with the couple being forced to flee their apartment due to an earthquake, the shaky foundations of this marriage are touched upon. Fortunately one of their co-stars is able to quickly hook them up with a new apartment. The fact that he doesn't reveal who the former tenant's seedy occupation is what will help spark later events. One night while expecting her husband to return with groceries, Rana understandably leaves the door unlocked. Emad comes home to a horrifying sight of bloody footprints everywhere followed by finding his bloodied wife in the hospital. It is assumed that the intruder has misunderstood who the apartment belonged to, but Emad is infuriated.
What is the most effective about Farhadi's picture is the portrayal of how accidents can lead something far more drastic. Rana struggles after the attack and this leads to her fleeing the stage in terror. This movie soon turns into an amateur detective piece as Emad becomes determined to find the attacker. There is a sense that he may not be doing this out of concern for his wife, but merely to absolve his own guilt. Farhadi has a knack of showing his male protagonists as being well-intentioned but always choosing poorly. Emad is a well-liked teacher and capable husband, but his ill-advised decision making is what begins the decline of his marriage. Rana wants to simply forget and move on. Reporting this to the police would ensure a scandal, something she is keen to avoid after inheriting this scandalous home.
Although The Salesman lacks the emotional punch that Farhadi's 'A Separation' provided, it does give a suspense that is powerful. Emad's insecurities begin to show through towards the film's climax. He is deeply affected and restless from his wife's attack and this has begun to make him unstable. Will confronting the attacker make him feel like a man once more? The former tenant remains an object of unseen mystery but yet her presence is what caused this mess to occur. Farhadi does let us down somewhat with a finale that stubbornly refuses to release emotions. Boxing his audience into close quarters with its protagonist and suspect does make for some claustrophobic filmmaking. While things to do wrap themselves up, there is also a notion that this marriage may be beyond repair.
This picture also coaxes a pair of wonderful turns, led by Taraneh Alidoosti. The Iranian actress gives a turn of great fragility, especially during the movie's latter half. Playing a woman keen to avoid any attention, her husband's obsession causes her great concern. Shahab Hosseini is also excellent as Emad and plays him as emotionally plagued by not protecting his wife. Hosseini is gripping to watch later on as his determination to be rid of his shame takes over.
Gripping and posing some smart moral questions, Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman is a movie about how moments of madness can define our lives and how even the best intentions can become corrupted.
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