Synopsis:
Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and his wife Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) are actors in an amateur Tehran production of Arthur Miller’s Death of Salesman. When their home is devastated by an earthquake, they are forced to move into a new apartment, until recently occupied by a mysterious young woman.
When a tragic incident occurs in the apartment, their lives are changed in ways they could never have predicted – as Rana draws herself into the shadows, Emad sets out for revenge, opening a rift between the couple that will push their marriage to its limits.
Film Review:
A riveting drama about a young couple facing a difficult challenge that they never saw coming. The Salesman is an intensely compelling film about life’s adversities, as well as how it has affected a young couple Emad (Shahab Hosseini) who is the husband and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) his wife. Both of them are in acting, but Emad teaches Literature as well. The play which they are both in is an adaptation of Arthur Miller’s novel “Death of Salesman” where Emad is playing as the salesman and Rana as his wife. The play is a very significant element of the film. It shows a somewhat similarity to what both of them are going through in real life.
The film’s opening scene is very engrossing where it starts off as slow paced, shots of lights focusing on the set of the play’s venue, and suddenly everyone is hassling to escape a building collapsing, the building where Emad and Rana reside with many others. It’s quite intense and dramatic seeing events that may happen in real life, as well as witnessing how people react in extreme crisis. It’s also fascinating to experience these moments of rawness through this film.
There are a lot of things that make this movie very successful as a drama and psychological thriller. First, it explores quite intensely on the characters and how they all gradually evolved into an entirely different person than from how we perceived them at the beginning part of the film. Second, each of the main characters either makes us relate to them or criticise them on a social aspect. Third would be the different number of issues that the director has laid upon for the audience to dissect separately and all together. Some of these problems are of the rape culture (Rana partly blamed for opening the door) and double standards within cultures (the senior men acting immaturely than the younger people but expect a lot from the younger generation).
The film is engaging throughout, and the director’s camera angles were brilliant, especially the scene when they were moving in the apartment, and the guy was going up the stairs while the camera did a full circle turn to get a dramatic shot. That was a very memorable scene for me. The hand-held shots were also emotionally moving and showed emphasis on the actor’s feelings–making their performances more compelling.
An immensely powerful film that is not to be missed–The Salesman is a movie that will be talked about for days after seeing it. It psychologically stimulates the audience at a deeper level. Highly recommended to be watched.
NZ Release Date: April 6, 2107