Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman is another masterclass in narrative and story from the celebrated Iranian filmmaker, a film full of mystery, intrigue, and understated emotion, deconstructing the underlying and far reaching effect emotional trauma can have on the psyche, being a story about censorship, revenge, and ultimately forgiveness. Centered around Ranaa and Emad, a married couple who has just been displaced from their home due to extensive structural damage, The Salesman paints an intricate study of their relationship, one that is pushed to the edge of ruin after a break-in at their new apartment leaves them reeling. The actual events of surrounding what exactly happened that night are left ambiguous, but the way Ranaa struggles to cope indicates sinister happenings, with The Salesman deconstructing the nature of trauma, one which leaves this woman in a borderline comatose state, unable to express the pain of her situation due to fear of shame. Juxtaposing the couples personal lives with the play they are both in, Death of A Salesman, Farhadi's film Is at least in part a commentary on the far reaching nature of this conservative culture and censorship, detailing how Ranaa herself is unable to express herself due to the shame associated with this presumably sexually-charged attack. We see a woman who attempts to quietly justify this heinous act, with her own victimhood being secondary in nature to her irresponsibly in leaving the door slightly open. Unwilling to go to the police, wishing to bottle up her trauma inside, The Salesman depicts a culture in which internalization is a better option than the shame which will occur. The effect the trauma has on this woman is visceral and heartfelt, detailing a character who struggles to even be in the same environment in which the attack took place. It's in Emad's inability to understand his wife's wishes thst causes strife among their relationship, setting him on a path of vengeance which ultimately leads to no clear form of redemption. Emad' pursuit of the man responsible is as much for him as it's for his wife, and it's only when he begins to listen to his wife's wishes that he truly recognizes the misguided nature of his revenge fueled justice. Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman is a film of many layers, a relationship drama that is part thriller, part redemptive, and part commentary of the culture these characters find themselves in, being another complex and intricate story by the celebrated filmmaker thst is full of many layers.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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