Asghar Farhadi – We Are Movie Geeks

A HERO – Review

*Amir Jadidi as Rahmin and Saleh Karimai as his son Siavash, in Asghar Farhadi’s Iranian drama/thriller A HERO. Photo credit: Amirhossein Shojaei. Courtesy of Amazon Studios.*

Debtor’s prison brings Charles Dickens to mind for most of us but this Dickensian nightmare appears to be alive in Iran – or at least prison for debt. In A HERO, two-time Oscar winning writer/director Asghar Farhadi’s latest drama/thriller, a man imprisoned for debt gets a two-day pass during which he hopes to work out a deal with his creditor. Things do not go as planned but Farhadi takes us on a twisty path and, at one point, it does look like the imprisoned debtor might become a hero.

A HERO is Iran’s official submission for the Oscars and won the Grand Prix award at Cannes last year, as well as being on several critics’ Top Ten lists. Iranian filmmaker Farhadi has built a sterling reputation, including with Oscar winners A SEPARATION and THE SALESMAN, as a director with a knack for taking stories that seem straight forward at first but then turn into something more complex and twisty, which reveals things about human nature while often commenting on life in modern Iran.

In most of Farhadi’s films, the main characters are ordinary middle-class people who find themselves in extraordinary and difficult situations, but in A HERO, the main character is someone barely holding on and on the fringe of the economic scale, a man imprisoned for a debt he can’t repay.

Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi) is released from prison on a two-day pass with hopes that he can work out a deal with the creditor who put him there. When he is released, he goes straight away to see his brother-in-law Hossein (Ali Reza Jahandideh) at his job, working at an archaeological site, Xeres’ Tomb, near Shiraz. Hossein greets him warmly and agrees to help him set up a meeting with the creditor, Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh), a miserly print shop owner, who now refuses to take Rahim’s calls.

Rahim owes Bahram 150,000 tomans for a business loan which he couldn’t pay back. It wasn’t that Rahim did anything wrong. His business partner ran off with the money, after which their mutual business went under. Previously, Rahim had been a calligrapher and sign painter but changes in Iranian society had rendered his profession unprofitable and less in demand.

When Hossein returns to finish his work shift, Rahim borrows his van, and goes to see his girlfriend Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldust). After she rushes across a busy street and hops into the van with Rahim, we learn why Rahim is hopeful about working out at deal with his creditor. Farkhondeh has found a purse on the street, with 17 gold coins, which she hopes they can sell to pay back the loan, so they can get married. Right now, their relationship must be kept secret, due to family disapproval on both sides.

But the coins turn out to be less valuable than hoped and will not cover the whole loan. When creditor Bahram refuses partial payment, Rahim makes the decision to try to return the money to whoever lost the purse. But Rahim’s decision to return the money to the owner comes with some complications, as he has to claim he found it, to conceal Farkhondeh’s identity and involvement.

Despite the small lie, his plan to do the right thing and find the owner of the purse seems to have an immediate positive effect, making him an instant media hero and gaining him admiration all around for his moral values, something that plays very well in modern Iranian society. It looks like a happy ending on the way.

But wait. There is a saying about the danger in doing the right thing for the wrong reason, and another one about no good deed going unpunished.

Both might be the case with Rahim, who is played well by Amir Jadidi. It is unclear if Rahim is doing this noble thing because he believes it is the right thing to do, or if he is hoping to use the public attention to either raise funds from donations to pay off his debt or pressure his creditor to forgive the loan. Rahim is a charming, good-looking man with a mild, pleasant demeanor and an ever-present smile that people seem drawn towards. But he is also someone with a hangdog look, who seems always to be hoping people will help him out, playing on his natural appeal. That ever-present smile starts seem odd, vanishing only briefly when he is worried, and begins to look more like a mask, or maybe a shield against anything that is unpleasant.

What seems simple at first, becomes complicated, and the characters and their relationships are revealed to be more complex than they seem at first. What seems at first like a drama turns into a thriller, with twists around every corner.

We learn more about the hero but also learn about the creditor, making him not just a villain. There are reasons for his stubbornness and resentments, and there is history between the two men. For one thing, the creditor is Rahim’s ex-wife’s brother-in-law, the wife who divorced Rahim when he was sent to prison. Further, the money he lent Rahim was supposed to be for a dowry for his grown daughter Nazanin (Sarina Farhadi), something she must have to get married.

Rahim’s and Farkhondeh’s living situations are also complicated, as both are dependent on family, reflecting the kind of extended family relationships found in modern Iran. While on leave, Rahim is staying with Hossein and his sister Malileh (Maryam Shahdaei), as his son Siavash (Saleh Karimai), a shy boy with a stutter, lives with his uncle and aunt and their two daughters. Rahim’s ex-wife seems little involved with their son, and when the boy gets in trouble at school, she tells the school to call the aunt and uncle instead. Rahim’s girlfriend Farkhondeh lives with her brother and his family. As she is now over thirty, her brother who would like her to marry, but he has nothing but disdain for her would-be fiance Rahim. She would like to escape her situation as much as Rahim wants to get out of jail, and Rahim looks to her like a lifeline.

The story is layered with commentary about Iranian society, past and present. The story takes place in Shiraz, a city near several archaeological sites, a choice that may be intended to evoke Iran’s past. A lot of the story takes place on Shiraz’s busy streets, crowded with traffic and people, which creates a noisy, chaotic backdrop against which this drama/thriller plays out. Media – and social media in particular – and the importance Iran places of morality play a critical role in how this story unfolds.

A HERO is another fine example of Asghar Farhadi’s skill as a writer and director, taking a seemingly simple situation and peeling back the complex human layers to reveal truths about people and modern Iranian society.

A HERO, in Farsi with English subtitles, opens Friday, Jan. 7, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema and at other theaters nationally, and is available Jan. 21 for streaming on Amazon.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

EVERYBODY KNOWS – Review

*Penélope Cruz stars as Laura and Javier Bardem as Paco in Asghar Farhadi’s EVERYBODY KNOWS, a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Teresa Isasi/Focus Features*

Penelope Cruz plays a Spanish-born woman who returns with her two children to the rural Spanish village where she grew up for her younger sister’s wedding. Among those who greet her are her childhood friend Paco (Javier Bardem), now the owner of a successful vineyard and winery. But this joyful family event is disrupted by a crime that brings to the surface long-simmering resentments and suspicions, ripping away the pleasant veneer of the modern world to reveal old class divides, in the gripping psychological thriller EVERYBODY KNOWS.

While the Spanish thriller/drama EVERYBODY KNOWS (Todos lo Saben) was not nominated for an Oscar, it did win the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year. The film seems deeply Spanish, and it features two of Spain’s biggest stars, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. However, it actually was written and directed by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, whose past films include the Oscar-winning films A SEPARATION and THE SALESMAN. Like those dramas, a family crisis is used to reveal deeper divisions and issues within that society and provide social commentary, as the drama also explores complexities of human relationships.

Penelope Cruz plays Laura, the woman returning to her family’s little village for her sister Ana’s (Inma Cuesta) wedding. Laura’s businessman husband Alejando (Ricardo Darin) is a model of globalized affluence who has donated generously to the restoration of the village’s historic church but he has not come on this trip, with Laura saying he needed to remain in Buenos Aires due to business. As Laura and her children, teenage daughter Irene (Carla Campra) and young son Diego (Ivan Chavero), arrive at the small inn owned by her older sister Mariana (Elvira Minguez) and her husband Fernando, they are also greeted by her childhood friend and former love Paco (Javier Bardem), now one of the town’s most prosperous citizens along with his wife Bea (Barbara Lennie). As they all celebrate the wedding into the night, a tragic event strikes, sending the family into a morass of secrets, long-hidden resentments and accusations as they struggle to rescue one of their own.

The crime is the kidnapping of Irene, and the kidnapper leave threatening clippings about an earlier kidnapping that ended badly when the family broke the instructions not to contact police. The instructions means the family must try to figure out on their own how to get her back alive.

Secrets are exposed and the past comes back to haunt everyone in the crime/psychological thriller EVERYBODY KNOWS. It is a big cast, which provides plenty of room for intrigue. The title suggests gossip, and that does play a role, as the accusations fly. Red herrings abound, as do secrets and shifting suspicions. The film seems a pot boiler with a dash of soap opera, at least on the surface.

This complex film works on several levels. On the surface, it is a crime thriller, a mystery to be solved. At times the twisty plot verges on soap opera, as family secrets and long-buried resentments boil up. But beneath that the drama explores the impact of old class divides, the resentments and lingering attitudes of privilege even as fortunes are reversed. Past romantic history emerges as well as cracks in veneers of prosperity. “Everybody knows” becomes a reoccurring refrain, as assumptions that “everybody knows” are exploded or nearly forgotten events of the past come to light.

At first, everything looks the idealized picture of a modern globalized world. When Laura returns to her family’s ancient estate home for the wedding, she is the picture of affluence from abroad, the success story in her once wealthy family. Her older sister and her husband are just getting by running a little inn in the rural village but the wine-growing region which is bustling. Laura’s childhood friend and youthful love Paco was the son of the family servant, but now owns a prosperous winery. When impulsive teenage Irene takes off with a cute local boy on a motorcycle, her mother is not overly worried, as everyone knows everyone in the village. The whole town seems to turn out for the wedding and the wine-fueled, dance-filled celebration that follows. As the celebration goes on into the night, the festivities take a dark turn, when Irene goes missing.

Forbidden by the kidnappers to contact police, the family is forced to figure out what to do on their own. Fernando secretly contacts an old friend, a retired policeman (Jose Angel Egido), who offers some advice but also unleashes secrets and suspicions.

The events of the film rip away the thin layer of modern social equality to reveal deep class divisions rooted in ancient aristocracy. Laura’s aging father (Ramon Barea), once the local patrone and major landholder, drunkenly rails that everyone in the village, claiming they owe him and implying he was swindled out of the land, although everyone knows he lost it gambling it away. While the family treats Paco almost like a member, the old patriarch lashes out to remind everyone it was not always so. In the end, it seems like Paco who pays to biggest price.

The plot is full of twists and with so many characters and switch backs it is easy to lose track. The director uses a familiar formula of doling out information in pieces, building suspense and doubt.

With all its twists and subtext, EVERYBODY KNOWS reaches a satisfying but poignant conclusion. Not everybody will like this very twisty thriller but fans of complicated psychological thrillers will be onboard for this wild ride. EVERYBODY KNOWS, in Spanish with English subtitles,opens Friday, February 22, at the Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Penélope Cruz And Javier Bardem Star In Asghar Farhadi’s EVERYBODY KNOWS

Here’s a first look at director Asghar Farhadi (“The Salesman,” “A Separation”) upcoming film EVERYBODY KNOWS. The film had its opening-night premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

The film follows Laura (Cruz) on her travels from Argentina to her small home town in Spain for her sister’s wedding, bringing her two children along for the occasion. Amid the joyful reunion and festivities, the eldest daughter is abducted. In the tense days that follow, various family and community tensions surface and deeply hidden secrets are revealed.

Did you know that Bardem and Cruz have been married since 2010, and they’ve also been acting opposite one another, on and off, for 26 years—from Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2008 and Loving Pablo. Read more HERE.

Focus Features will release in select theaters on February 8, 2019.

Visit the official site: focusfeatures.com/everybody-knows

THE SALESMAN – Review

*Taraneh Alidoosti as Rana (left) and Shahab Hosseini as Emad (right) in THE SALESMAN, directed by Asghar Farhadi. Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios and Cohen Media Group ©*

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who helmed the searing drama A SEPARATION, delivers another moving film that is both a gripping domestic drama and pointed exploration of the challenges of life in contemporary Iran. Iranian filmmakers have along tradition of crafting films of strong social commentary while under the constraints of a restrictive environment. Few contemporaries are as skilled at this as Farhadi, as A SEPARATION showed. That film dealt with a marriage where the future of the couple’s young daughter forced the parents into a choice. Here, another couple faced a different kind of choice, but also one driven by the realities of life in Tehran. Not surprisingly, this taut, emotional, and powerful drama is one of this year’s nominees for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Persian-language THE SALESMAN weaves its story a bit like a tense crime thriller but one with an undercurrent of commentary on both human nature and the difficulty of life in Iran. Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) are a young couple living in Tehran. At first, they seem much like a young couple living in any city. Emad teaches English literature at a local high school but in the evenings, both he and his wife are part of an acting troupe that is in rehearsals for a play they are soon opening, Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman.” One night shortly before the play is due to open, the couple are jolted out of their beds when heavy construction equipment, being used in work in an empty lot next door, unexpectedly damages their building and the are forced to evacuate. With their apartment building now condemned, Emad and Rana are forced to find a new home quickly. A member of the acting troupe offers a recently vacant apartment in a building he owns and they move in.

Their colleague/new landlord fails to mention that the apartment’s previous occupant has a questionable history. One evening, as Rana is home alone taking a shower, the buzzer to the building’s exterior door rings. She had taken their one door key and she is expecting her husband home any minute, so Rana unlocks the door without checking, unlocks the apartment door and returns to her shower, a moment of inattention that leads to a violent assault.

When neighbors call him, Emad rushes to the hospital, where he finds his battered wife in surgery. The doctors shoo him out but the neighbors, who found her, are sitting in the waiting room. They are strangely vague about what happened, suggesting she fell. Back at home, there are signs of home invasion and bloody footprints on the stairs. Her head bandaged, Rana is clearly traumatized but refuses to let her husband call the police to report the attack. He is frustrated and angry.

The salesman is not a reference to the home invader as one might assume but to “Death of a Salesman,” the play the acting troupe is rehearsing. Emad is playing the aging salesman Willy Loman and Rana his wife, and scenes from the play are inserted throughout the story as they rehearse, often underscoring or commenting on what is unfolding in the couple’s life.

Her refusal to bring in the police and the neighbors’ vagueness about what happened puzzles us at first. The couple seems much like modern young couples anywhere, apart from the every-present headscarves, but it gradually becomes clear that life in Tehran is quite different. There are serious reasons for the hesitance. Tensions grow between Rana and Emad over her refusal to call police, and as clues emerge about who attacked his wife, Emad’s anger threatens to explode.

The full nature of that assault and what will be done about it becomes a matter of contention between traumatized Rana and her outraged husband Emad. Their personal story is emotional gripping but the director uses it to explore and comment on life in Iran. The film explores a culture and system of laws that favors men, where victims are tainted by the assault, and public humiliation rather than justice is the likely outcome of a trial. Both Rana and Emad are caught in a net of difficult choices.

Some of the tensions between the two are what you would expect for any couple struggling to cope after an assault, but the particular restraints of Iranian society add an extra level of difficulty. Clues to the attacker’s identity which were left in the apartment and his co-worker/landlord’s lack of honesty about who lived there before complicate matters. The story unfold like a crime drama, building to a tense, electrifying climax.

As in his other films, Farhadi is a master at both building tension in the personal story and revealing unpleasant truths about life in Iran. The photography is finely done but the focus is riveted on the actors and the story’s growing tensions, which fill the air with electricity, awaiting only a spark. .

Shahab Hosseini as Emad is superb, a performance that has won him some awards, and does much in propelling the action. Much of the film focuses on Emad, wavering between being supportive of his injured wife and his thirst for revenge, but other actors shine as well. As Rana, Taraneh Alidoosti portrays a woman coping with the aftermath of an attack as any woman might but also as an Iranian woman, who must remain mindful of the severe costs should her husband’s wish to punish her assailant be unleashed in this particular society. Emad’s frustration with the landlord leads to scenes that give us additional insight on the challenges of life in Iran,while ramping up the emotional fire. What happens at the film’s end is as searing and nail-biting as the best thriller anywhere but the depth of the story and its meaning adds to the satisfying conclusion.

The couple’s struggle to cope, the unexpected parallels to the play’s story and characters, and pointed social commentary on Iran all add up to an excellent, emotionally gripping and though-provoking film, once again proving Asghar Farhadi’s brilliance as a director.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: