imperfection is perfection
Sporadic film reviews by a wanna-be filmmaker
THE SALESMAN (Forushande) [2016]
Originally written for:
Directed and Written by Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini, Babak Karimi
Fresh off winning an Oscar for best foreign film (why these films can’t be considered for ‘Best Picture’ is a frustration best kept for another time), The Salesman eludes simple convention and wrings the most out of a fairly standard narrative. It does this by focusing on character, and by doing so it depicts the mental degradation a man experiences on a one-way road to revenge.
During a production of the play Death of a Salesman, a couple, Rana and Emad, suddenly find that their house is crumbling, and an early extended shot probing out of one of the cracked windows shows us why this is happening. After successfully evacuating, the couple are forced to quickly find a new place, and after mentioning that they are close to sleeping on the stage of their set, Babak – a colleague working with them – offers to help.
Upon seeing the new house, the couple decide it will be a temporary arrangement. Unbeknownst to them, the house was originally the home of a prostitute. This arrangement didn’t go well, as when the new couple are introduced to their new neighbours, once out of earshot the neighbours ask Babak to make sure that this doesn’t turn out like the ‘last one’. This missing detail proves to be key when the couple move in.
A HEALTHY DOSE OF REVENGE?
Cleverly, The Salesman does not show what happens at all – the last thing we see is Rana opening the door for who she thinks is her husband, with the camera lingering on the door, ever so slightly opening further before the film cuts to her husband, who is making his way home and arrives only to find blood on the steps leading to his apartment; his wife gone. The way this is executed casts doubt over the entire situation. Was she raped? What exactly happened?? Is she trying to get back at her husband in the only way she knows how?
Thanks to the help of their new neighbours, Rana is safe in a hospital. It transpires that the likely assailant was a customer of the previous occupant. One of many things that begin to fuel Emad’s rage, as he, slightly unhinged, demands of Babak why he wasn’t told about the previous occupant. Babak is graceful and offers to help, but Emad doesn’t want to hear it.
Meanwhile, his wife Rana doesn’t want to call the police, and neither does Emad. They both have very different reasons for why they think this way however, causing their relationship to slowly fracture. Emad is so entangled in his quest for revenge, he fails to notice this in any way, despite Rana’s attempts to stop him. Emad is taking the situation personally, despite the fact that his wife was the one assaulted. As if she were his property.
GENDER INEQUALITY IN IRAN
Emad taking the rape of his wife personally is part of an obvious theme running through The Salesman: the treatment of wives/women by men in Iranian society. We see a small glimpse of this early, as when in a packed taxi-cab, a woman sitting next to Emad first asks him to move over, despite the fact he is squashed against the door already. She soon asks if she can switch seats with the young man in the front passenger seat. Even though he did nothing to cause this, her reaction would seem to be the consequence of a past interaction with a man gone wrong.
More overtly though is the way in which Emad begins to treat his wife, becoming increasingly dismissive of her post-traumatic stress, taking it upon himself to hunt down the attacker outside of official protocol, which he believes will be a waste of time. Rana wants to put it all behind her, but her husband refuses to let this happen. Soon after the attack, Rana tries to perform her role in the play, but eventually leaves the stage in tears. Emad again doesn’t empathise with her situation, rather, he expects her to fall in line and get over it.
THE LEADS
Shahab Hosseini, playing Emad, is a big reason in why The Salesman is as powerful as it is, despite its relative simplicity. His portrayal of a man rapidly shifting through emotions like a greyhound processing the grieving process is incredibly believable. He begins as a happy, married, popular school-teacher who is starring in a play. After his wife is attacked, his emotions take on the traits of a pinball, and Shahab clearly depicts where his character is emotionally, often without the need for words. His ability to truly inhabit his character is a big part of why the ending of the film is so gut-wrenching.
The gravity of his performance wouldn’t be possible without the on-screen chemistry he shares with Taraneh Alidoosti as his wife Rana. Or perhaps more accurately, a lack of chemistry. The couple initially seem happy, but their depiction of a couple slowly growing apart is incredibly believable. Both actors inject this dramatic story with a realistic tone, and this is further cemented by every other performance in the movie. There are no weak links, including a few child actors.
Superbly shot and produced, there is little to complain about regarding this fine film. The pacing is very deliberate, as new pieces of information are methodically fed to the audience. This isn’t for everyone, it has a bit of a ‘slow-burn’ feel to it, but if you are looking for a revenge film that subverts the genre’s norms, this is certainly one to watch. Fans of last years fantastic Elle, which also subverted some revenge movie norms, should give this one a watch.
18 Comments on “THE SALESMAN (Forushande) [2016]”
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imperfection is perfection 
Excellent review Jordan. I am a big fan of Farhadi’s, with A Separation, The Past, and About Elly being some of my favorite films in recent years. While I didn’t quite like this as much as those movies, I do think it’s a compelling depiction of gender in Iran and society in general, and it’s another great picture by Farhadi.
Interesting comparison to Elle, one I hadn’t considered before. Both films stress the subjugation of their women characters (though Elle emphasizes the eponymous character’s perseverance, whereas The Salesman stresses male-female relationships).
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Thanks mate, good to hear from ya. I’ve been out of commission for a coupla months, hope to get back writing again. Will be visiting your site soon 🙂
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Excellent review my friend. I previously loved A Separation for how realistic and powerful it was, so this looks right up my street.
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Yeah I really need to go back and check out this guy’s other films. This was my first, I have Elle so that’ll be next
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He’s a master craftsman.
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it certainly looks that way! Definitely going to watch About Elly i think its called, maybe today actually
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I too have a bit of his work to catch up with.
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I bet I would love this Iranian gem. I’m going to have to watch it thanks to your fine review, Jordan.
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It is a great flick, and a nice change of pace for revenge based films
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Wow this sounds really good.
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Nice review.
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Thanks mate. I haven’t seen the director’s other films, but yeah this is great. I love that it doesn’t follow the normal revenge thriller norms
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Shamefully, even though I knew of this movie I had no idea what it was about! I’m trying to watch more foreign-language movies just lately so this absolutely next on my list now. Great review!
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Foreign films are the best! I like them more than English films half the time. This one is fantastic, it is dark and original.
If you haven’t seen many foreign flicks, may I also suggest Son of Saul. That one is pretty amazing.
If you are interested: https://epilepticmoondancer.net/2016/03/23/son-of-saul-2015/
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Ahhh another I know the name of and forgot about! Thanks Jordan 🙂
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Hehe, hope you like it mate! 🙂
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This and Elle just seem waaay too dark for me to watch but this is an excellent review, you need to write more!
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Thanks for the kind words Sati 🙂 And I agree, I wish I wrote more. It keeps me sane, but too often I just sit there and think about what I’m going to write, instead of openig a bloody document and WRITING it down!
I think I’ll start recording stuff on my phone to make things a bit easier
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