The Salesman
Director: Ashgar Farhadi
Talent: Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini, Babak Karimi, Mina Sadati
Release Date: 17th March
This slow-burning psychological thriller about a schoolteacher (Hosseini) who embarks on a revenge mission after his wife (Alidoosti) is sexually assaulted, shares many attributes with director Asghar Farhadi’s previous work. These being: a tightly constructed screenplay, superb performances, and a profound awareness of how seemingly trivial actions can lead to terrible and unforeseen consequences. Unfortunately though, some significant flaws keep this one from reaching the heights of his 2011 masterpiece A Separation.
Unlike Paul Verhoeven’s current release, Elle, which deals with a similar subject but focuses entirely on the victim’s experience, The Salesman is not overly interested in a female perspective, being far more concerned with the impact that his wife’s assault has on the protagonist.
Needless to say, this is a problem, and the whole film in fact has a somewhat retrograde attitude towards women that seems inexplicable when considering Farhadi’s normally enlightened cinema. One can only hope that this is the result of obliviousness rather than intention, and that his next effort will see a return to form.
Words – Felipe Deakin
