The Salesman * * * 1/2

    I found The Salesman to be brilliant, clumsy, pretentious, dull and exciting. It’s a rather inconsistent film. I know it did  well at the both the Cannes Film Festival and the The Oscars and it certainly deserves acknowledgement: though how it could win best script in a field that offered up Elle and Juliet and Manchester By The Sea is beyond me. Not to mention Hail Caesar, Nocturnal Animals, Hell and High Water.

Getting the Willy Loman reference?
Me neither.

     Maybe they just wanted to give a guernsey to an Iranian film to show there is fraternity between artists, if not Governments.

     The gesture is reciprocated too, with references to Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman, even if the references don’t make complete sense.  

     Emad is a teacher in a high school. He is also an amateur thespian.  He and his wife are part of a theatre company that is currently mounting a production of Death Of A Salesman.  I forced myself to find connection between the play and the film as I felt I should, but it was very tenuous and I felt I was drawing a long bow

     The Salesman tells the story of Emad and his wife Rana who move into a new apartment, but they can’t quite get the old tenant out: her stuff is crammed into a spare room.  One night Rana is assaulted by someone who appears to be a visitor for the previous tenant.

      Emad seems to feel more violated than his wife and goes on a hunt for the perpetrator.  They don’t call the cops, as they feel it will be a waste of time and a humiliating experience for Rana which is a telling insight into Tehran.  There are a few other subtle insights and cautious criticisms of Iranian society which should be acknowledged.

      Emad continues his work as a teacher in the day and doing his acting at night, whilst going on a bit of a detective hunt to find out who entered his apartment. His insistence puts their relationship under pressure.

     The final forty minutes of The Salesman show a dramatically powerful encounter.  This long final section, mostly in one room is the best by far and redeems the film of most of its previous weakness.  I guess this is what stuck in people's minds when they got all excited and gave it the best script award.