The Salesman

At what cost does one's actions have on both them and those around them? Sometimes there are no repercussions for said actions, other times there are. Regardless of the outcome, very rarely does one emerge unscathed in the aftermath.

Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman focuses on a such a scenario. Focusing on a young couple as they move into a new apartment, things start to shift once they begin to settle in. And after an intruder breaks in, everything starts going downhill.

So where does the film's title originate? Farhadi has Arthur Miller to thank for that (the couple is in a production of Death of a Salesman). And there are shared elements between the two works. (To say what precisely would give both works away.)

Like what he did with A Separation, Farhadi provides a slow burn for the actions of The Salesman. He allows the audience to get to know its leads before the plot really kicks in. It's a delicate process that very few creators do well, and thankfully Farhadi is one such person.

The Salesman is a bewitching film. We crave to know what's going on in their quiet lives, it never dawns on us that we're intruding their privacy. And like A Separation, we're left wanting more as the credits start to roll. That's always a promising sign for any creator's work. Here's to a fruitful career for Farhadi.

My Rating: *****

A Separation

Asghar Farhadi's A Separation opens rather tamely. Simin (Leila Hatami) seeks a divorce from husband Nader (Peyman Moaadi), but she isn't granted one. After she moves out, a chain of events happen follow Nader almost to personal ruin.

Of course that description is as vague as I can make it without giving anything else away. I think the less you know about certain films, the more you're bound to like them. (This has been applied to a number of films I've seen as of late.) Anyway, I'm just adding in filler. Let's add something substantial.

Farhadi depicts the domestic situation between Simin and Nader as something reminiscent of a John Cassavetes film. What happens to Nader is worthy of something from Sidney Lumet's work. Safe to say Farhadi was influenced by other directors.

Farhadi's screenplay is fantastic as are the performances from Hatami and Moaadi. It's these aspects that go into a film that should be in full effect in, well, any film. Crap, I'm rambling again. Moving on!

Long story short, A Separation is a brilliant film. This pretty much confirmed that not only should I watch more foreign films, I realized that foreign films are often better than what Hollywood cranks out. Anyway, go see this if you haven't.

My Rating: *****