Movie Review - The Salesman

The Salesman (Forushande) (2016)

Starring Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti, and Farid Sajjadi Hosseini

Directed by Asghar Farhadi

***This film is currently streaming via Amazon Prime***

In the four films I've seen in the Asghar Farhadi directorial oeuvre, it's obvious that he's the current king of the slow burn mystery.  His films are modern day morality plays, creating tension from people's personal decisions rather than shoot-em-up thrills.  The Salesman is no different, but it takes a bit too long to get to its admittedly gripping conclusion.  While this meandering method of storytelling is the calling card of Farhadi, The Salesman is the least successful of the director's films thus far despite delivering fantastically in the acting department.

When actors Emad and Rana (Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti) are forced to leave their apartment after a nearby construction issue condemns their building, the married couple move into a rooftop apartment at a new complex.  Rana returns home following the opening night of their production of Death of a Salesman, with Emad arriving later only to find a bathroom covered in blood and his wife in the hospital after what seems to be a home invasion and attack.  Embarrassed and ashamed by the incident, Rana doesn't want Emad to report the crime to the police so Emad begins to investigate in an attempt to find the perpetrator who has sent his typically jovial wife into a depressing spiral.

What's always admirable about Farhadi is that as a writer he keys in to the slightly repressed Iranian culture and the stigmatization of women in the society.  Rana's shame in being attacked causes the woman to seemingly fear some form of retribution from her culture should she attempt to find the culprit of the crime.  Taraneh Alidoosti heartbreakingly hones in on this shameful notion as Rana, a typically engaging actress who welcomes the gaze of an audience, regresses into a solitary loner afraid of interaction with anyone including her concerned husband.  Shahab Hosseini's Emad is an even-tempered guy even after their home invasion, but Hosseini never lets us mistake that calmness for complaisance.  As his investigation becomes more successful, Hosseini still keeps the outward appearance of his character buttoned up, but also displays an inner rage and anger that he feels towards his wife's assailant.  A third actor -- Farid Sajjadi Hosseini -- also does fine work here as a beleaguered, worn-down elderly man whose scenes opposite Alidoosti and Shahab Hosseini prove to be emotionally wrenching.

The three aforementioned actors are reason enough to watch The Salesman, but this is the least successful Farhadi film I've seen from a pacing standpoint.  Farhadi is almost defiantly deliberate in the way he slowly peels back the various layers of his characters and, in that regard, he does a fantastic job creating people who exude "realness" in his films.  However, The Salesman needed just a touch more editing in the middle forty minutes to really create something special (like his gripping film A Separation).  Asghar Farhadi is still a director and writer I've come to admire and I'll continue to look forward to his future endeavors.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-