Asghar Farhadi returns to Iran after The Past and makes yet another masterpiece The Salesman. The film tells the story of a theater actor couple Emad (Shahab Hosseini), who is also a teacher, and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti). They act in Arthur Miller’s famous play Death of a Salesman. However, the film takes a U-turn when Rana’s head is brutally assaulted by an intruder (Farid Sajadhosseini). Even though The Salesman may apparently look like a thriller, it is actually a psychological character study.
The film starts with chaos in the building where Emad and Rana live. Soon it becomes clear that the entire building is collapsing probably because of an earthquake. Babak, a fellow actor of the same theater where Emad and Rana act, arranges an apartment for the couple. The problem arises when it becomes clear that the previous tenant was a prostitute. One day, Rana hears the sound of the buzzer while taking bath in the bathroom. She buzzes in an intruder thinking of him as Emad. The intruder assaults her head brutally. Emad returns to the apartment only to find out the bloodstains on the floor of the bathroom. By that time, his neighbors have already taken Rana to a hospital. A deeply concerned Emad reaches the hospital and sees that Rana’s head is being stitched. Rana returns home but the incident keeps frightening her all the time. The situation is so terrible that she cannot even go to the bathroom alone.
Emad is tormented by the fact that he is not able to protect his wife. The only motto of his life is now to catch the intruder. Instead of filing a complaint at a police station, Emad himself starts investigating this case. The only clue that the culprit left is the car key. Emad is able to track the pick-up van but not its owner. After a few efforts, Emad finally tracks Majid as the owner of the car with the help of one of his students, whose father used to work in the police department. Emad frames Majid in the name of transporting his belongings. Instead of Majid, his would-be father-in-law arrives at his previous apartment. After a brief conversation with the old man, Emad is able to establish the fact that he is the actual culprit.
A vengeful Emad confines him in the apartment and calls his family members for visiting the apartment to humiliate him in front of them. Rana too arrives there and warns Emad of separation if he goes for revenge. The old man’s family members arrive on the spot only to discover that he is undergoing severe chest pain. Being unaware of the actual incident, they thank Emad and Rana for informing them about the old man’s illness and taking care of him in their absence. Emad takes the old man into a room and returns his money, which he left after the incident, and strikes him again for his crime. The old man again suffers from severe chest pain and an ambulance is called for taking him to a hospital. Emad and Rana finally return to the theater together.
Much like A Separation, The Salesman is also a story about a young couple. Farhadi makes dynamic films based on ordinary lives. His scenes are always charged up with actions, and his inquisitive camera is always in motion as if it is about to capture something new and fresh. The Salesman is a dynamic film as well. Even though the film apparently may look like a thriller because of the sequence of events, it is actually a psychological character study. The film is an experiment on the male ego. Emad is a simple and fun-loving person before the attack on Rana. The attack on Rana questions his capabilities to protect his wife.
Emad’s male ego in the patriarchal society gets hurt when he fails to save his wife from the attack. This incident transforms him into a vengeful person whose only objective in life is revenge. Farhadi chose The Death of a Salesman as the play within the film as it deals with similar issues. Willy Loman dreams for wealth and happiness in the play, but he fails to achieve either. He only lives in illusion instead of reality. Emad also cannot accept his failure. The only option left for being victorious is revenge. Farhadi’s The Salesman is a mirror of patriarchal society across the world. That’s why the film is an astounding psychological character study.
The Salesman excels in all the aspects of filmmaking. The film is so neatly woven that no scene or even shot looks redundant. Asghar Farhadi’s direction is extremely dynamic and his screenplay is very well constructed. He does not allow viewers to be idle for a moment. There is always a very strong focus on each scene. Farhadi has made the film so engaging as if the viewers are present with the characters. Hossein Jafarian’s inquisitive camera always follows the characters in motion. The cinematography contributes significantly to the dynamic aspects of the film along with the editing.
The editing by Hayedeh Safiyari is extremely dynamic and justifies the scenes. Shahab Hosseini portrays the character of Emad brilliantly. He won the Best Actor award at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Taraneh Alidoosti as Rana is simple, sensitive, compassionate, and expressive. Farid Sajadhosseini as the intruder catches all the eyes. The Salesman won Best Actor and Best Screenplay awards at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. The film won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 89th Academy Awards and was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 74th Golden Globe Awards. Asghar Farhadi and Taraneh Alidoosti boycotted the Academy Awards in protest of the US government’s visa policy for Iran and six other countries.