The Salesman – movie review

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi writes and directs gritty slice-of-life dramas and The Salesman, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, continues that fine tradition. The moral quandary at the heart of this picture is what helps maintains interest.

Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and his wife Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) are a middle class couple – actors in an amateur Tehran production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. When an earthquake devastates their home, they are forced to move into a new apartment. Until recently the two-bedroom unit was occupied by an unidentified woman, who fled in a hurry, leaving behind many of her belongings. When a shocking incident occurs in the apartment, their lives are changed in ways they could never have predicted. While Rana draws herself into the shadows, Emad sets out for revenge, opening a rift between the pair that will put a massive strain upon their marriage.

Here you have two decent people whose lives are chugging along normally until an episode blows everything apart. They love each other. He is a good and caring teacher and part-time actor. She, too, dabbles in theatre.

Hosseini and Alidoosti’s performances ooze credibility. He is at wits end trying to find out what really happened. She is aware of the consequences from what occurred and isn’t keen on calling the police and yet, clearly, she is psychologically traumatised, as well as physically hurt. So, The Salesman is about dealing with the religious and moral complexities that result from a simple mistake – making a presumption, being too trusting.

Inevitably, our Western bias comes into play and we are left thinking if that happened in Australia or in North America or the UK it would be handled differently. But that, of course, is the whole point – that is not where it took place and the outcome for the innocent parties is significant. The whole thing evolves in a matter of fact style and it takes a while to sort out not only exactly what happened, but who was responsible.

On stage, in Death of A Salesman, Emad and Rana play the roles of the salesman and his wife. And in their personal lives, without realising it, they are going to be confronted by a salesman and his family, and have to decide upon the salesman’s fate. The ending is particularly onerous and probably too drawn out. Yet it kept me guessing … wanting to know and see more. Will the perpetrator get his comeuppance? Can this husband and wife put the incident behind them and return to “normal” or will the mental scars remain embedded and affecting?

So, like so much of Farhadi’s earlier work, The Salesman leaves a lasting impression of a society in which tolerance is sorely tested. Rated M, it scores a 7½ out of 10.

Director: Asghar Farhadi
Cast: Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti
Release Date: 8 March 2017
Rating: M

Alex First