The Salesman 2016

     Rana and Emad are an Iranian couple living in an apartment but everyone is forced to evacuate because the building is collapsing.  Emad teaches literature to a class of teenage boys.  Rana and Emad are both amateur performers rehearsing for the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.  The couple rent a new apartment from a fellow performer.  He doesn’t tell them that the previous tenant was a woman with many male visitors.  Emad is away and Ranaa is working unpacking in the apartment.  She takes a shower and there is a buzz from the lobby.  She doesn’t ask who’s at the door because she thinks it is Emad.  Instead, it’s a client of the former tenant and he comes into the apartment.  There was a struggle, glass was broken and Rana is taken to the hospital for stitches in her scalp.

     Ranna is totally changed by this incident and she doesn’t want to live in this apartment anymore.  Emad doesn’t know what they are going to do?  It’s not easy to find a place to rent and they will need the money to place another deposit.  Emad is angry with the landlord for not telling them about the former tenant.  They learn that all the current tenants knew about her history.  There are two themes for this film.  The apartment incident and the play they are performing.  I thought it was interesting about the apartment but the scenes about the play seemed boring to me?  3* (This movie is OK) 

124 min, Drama directed Asghar Farhadi with Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini, Babak Karimi, Mina Sadati, Farid Sajjadi Hosseini, Mojtaba Pirzadeh, Maral Bani Adam, Emad Emami, Shirin Aghakashi.

Note:  Imdb 7.9 out of 10, 96% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, The Guardian 3* out of 5* review by Peter Bradshaw, 4* out of 5* review by Wendy Ide, Metacritic 85 out of 100 with 36 critics 7.5 out of 10 with 202 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Tehran, Iran.  Early in production, Farhadi posted an ad on social media asking people to send in short video auditions.  Thousands of Iranians sent in their audition scenes.  This film became the highest grossing film of 2016 in Iran and the third highest grossing film in local box office history.  Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Cannes Best Screenplay and Best Actor, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.