The Salesman or Le Client for the French speaking markets aka Forooshande by Asghar Farhadi my note on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/11/note-on-salesman-aka-forushande-writer.html - 10 out of 10

 

The Salesman or Le Client for the French speaking markets aka Forooshande by Asghar Farhadi my note on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/11/note-on-salesman-aka-forushande-writer.html

 

10 out of 10

 

The Salesman is one of a series of masterpieces directed and written by the glorious Asghar Farhad, I am ecstatic because I have seen this, but also A Separation https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/11/note-on-separation-writer-director.html and A Hero, divine magnum opera

 

Fantastic Shahab Hosseini is Emad and Taraneh Alidoosti has the role of Rana, his wife, they both act in a play within the movie, the classic Death of A Salesman  https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/08/death-of-salesman-by-arthur-miller.html hence the name of the film

This spectacular (only in the good sense, not a Hollywood extravaganza) motion picture is not openly subversive, it could not be filmed in Iran, distributed there, what with the ayatollah in charge the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and other such loathsome entities and ghouls censoring anything that could undermine them

 

However, we have many vignettes, details, aspects that show us the situation, while the big picture is concerned with universal flaws, virtues, the political side is just one side of this tremendous, vast fresco, one interesting element is the fact that they have Death of a Salesman very present in the scenario

The actors will be shown repeating, performing in front of the audience, once in a while their own emotions find their way into the representation, Emad is furious and shouts at his friend, Babak, while they are both on stage, because the latter had recommended a flat, and the result was unhappy

 

To start with, Emad and Rana have to find lodgings, or else ‘they will sleep at the small theater’ so Babak recommends this place, they move in, with shoes and things from the former tenant – my daughter, Hannah, remarked correctly that shoes with some heels would be anathema in the Islamic Republic

They do not have time to settle in, before a nadir, as he returns home, the hero finds blood on the steps and then his wife is taken to the hospital, she had collapsed and only remembers the hands of this stranger, who had entered in the bathroom, and then she recovered her senses at the emergency room

 

We are in doubt if there was a rape – at least I was pondering the issue – but the fact is the assault was clear, and the intrusion, which is explained gradually, because the former occupant of the flat was alleged to be immoral woman, sex worker, albeit they used prostitute, not the politically correct term

Ergo, Le Client entered thinking he is visiting his regular host, for paid coitus – the French version has the accent on this fellow aka The Client, not The Salesman, so they named it in consequence – and things are complicated because he was allowed in from downstairs, and the door was open

 

Rana thought it was her husband, returning, but she now has a concussion, contusions on the face, and a traumatic experience, worse still, her spouse is bent on taking revenge, and would not allow the horrendous incident be forgotten, as always with Asghar Farhadi, we have a complex situation

On the one hand, it makes sense for the man to seek retribution, punishment for that villainous act, but on the other, he will go to extremes, and instead of helping, he might be harming, another angle is that, in her traumatized state, Rana is rejecting his approach at night, and the opposite in the daytime

 

She is evidently scared due to her trauma, and wants Emad to shield her during the day, and at the same time, the assault made her vulnerable and over sensitive, so she has an allergy to sex – I presume, she does not say that, not does anybody else, this a chef d’oeuvre of many suggestions, subtleties, hues…

In the kerfuffle of the visit, the assailant had ruin away, and he left a small pickup truck, which could offer clues to his identity, thereabouts, they keep it in the parking, until one day there is no place, and it is on the street, and it disappears, the stranger must have waited with his other key, and took off

 

Emad is also a teacher, and loses his grip at one moment, when he is more than harsh to a student, and asks to see his father, only to be told that the parent is dead, then he asks another pupil for help, because he has a relative who can offer the address for the registration number of the truck, just like other masterpieces of Asghar Farhadi, this is also a thriller, and we search for the culprit with the hero, turned detective, who enters this bakery, trying to see who his foe is, and make him pay…

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”