The Salesman (2016)

The Salesman is the latest film from Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi.  Farhadi is well known for winning the 2012 Academy Award for his film A Separation.  Farhadi’s latest effort tells the story of a man named Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and a woman named Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti).  Both people are one half of a married couple who enjoy acting in theater plays.  At the film’s beginning we see the couple go through a difficult loss and watch how they adapt to that situation.  Emad and Rana are acting in an adaptation of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.  After the play finishes for the evening Rana goes home and cooks.  Emad is still out and returns home to find his wife missing.  Emad eventually discovers where his wife is and because of what the couple experiences in this event their marriage and their individual lives are changed forever.

The main reason I enjoyed The Salesman works is because the audience is watching the effect of the tragedy unfold in close to real time.  We experience the instant shock Emad feels that his wife was attacked and guilt that he wasn’t there to support her.  Emad wants justice for what happened with Rana and all Rana wants is for the whole thing to go away. These two approaches to emotionally dealing with such difficult situation are constantly in conflict which is what provides the audience with some of the rawest performances I have ever seen captured on film.

The film is impeccably shot by Farhadi and not only gives audiences good views of their environment but also the conversations had between the couple.  This film is an intense portrayal of marriage and how two inciting incidents can not only break a relationship but change lives forever.  Hosseini and Akidoosti do a phenomenal job at displaying and demonstrating the breakdown of that relationship to a point where it becomes painful to watch.  I go to the movies to watch people change and grow and it was difficult to sit in a theater and watch a woman fight for survival while her husband desires vengeance.

The challenging thing about the story Asghar Farhadi presents is that we’re dealing with an instance of sexual assault against a woman who was not only married but defenseless.  Such material can put viewers off as they may see no way forward for the character who had that experience.  The way it’s presented, the focus is not on hope or recovery but on finding the person responsible for the heinous act.  Though things unfold slowly regarding the resolution, it gives the audience time to play detective and see if they can figure out who did it.  To have audience participation in wanting and obtaining justice for this victim gives them their own part to play in regard to how they react when the culprit is discovered.

Asghar Farhadi is a master filmmaker because all of the emotional weight that comes with the negative experiences depicted in this film is played as normal as possible thus giving audience no moment to relax as sometimes new events happen that just change the direction of the story and change how the characters relate to or distance themselves from each other.  No film this year is more heartbreaking than The Salesman but my personal is hope is that the audiences learns something not about the individuals but about the culture or the issues depicted in this harrowing tale of survival and recovery.

The Salesman sold me on the difficulties of marriage and also reminded me on how even though the vow says for better or worse the strength to get through the worst comes from within.