Um Herói

Another great and mind blowing movie by Farhadi. Like his other movies, the story starts like a small snowball rolling down the hill and devastates lives.

In this story, the snowball is the social media leading to defaming a good deed from a humble hero down the hill. Amazing storyline! Many audiences gave this movie low rating as the ending didn't satisfy their expectations. The fact is, we are constructing the end ahead of the story and get disappointed if we are seeing it the same.

Another fascinating and morally complex character study from Asghar Farhadi.

As with his previous movies "A Separation" and "The Salesman," Farhadi presents us with an ambiguous situation and then sits back and observes what happens as a varied cast of characters try to navigate it. There are no good guys or bad guys, and there's no clear right or wrong. Some people do good things for the wrong reasons. Some people do bad, or at least hurtful, things for a good reason. Many characters fall into both categories. I love Farhadi's films because they don't editorialize and they acknowledge that the world we live in is messy and complicated and that nothing, not ideas or people or beliefs, can fall into the tidy buckets that our social media world wants them to.

Grade: A.

There is no filmmaker working today who can match Farhadi's ability to portray real-life family dynamics, everyday occurrences, and all the small details of life. Farhadi is the master when it comes to bringing a true sense of realism in his movies, and in this latest effort, he makes sure of making that obvious. Yet, although 'A Hero' conveys successfully that Farhadi touch for genuine realism, the film is deprived of the kinetic energy Farhadi's most triumphant films enroll on.

Here Farhadi decides to go for seemingly a more rewarding path regarding the script. He chooses to construct a long pattern of conflicts, hoping to keep the audience constantly interested. But Asghar goes overboard with it. It's like someone dared him to create the twistiest story he could come up with, and voila, this is the result. But this amount of plot-heavy nature of the screenplay didn't play as Farhadi was hoping. The film gets tiresome; too convoluted - not that I wasn't able to keep up with the story because Farhadi does an incredible job constructing it meticulously, but it lacks that spark that, as I said, made Farhadi's other films such masterpieces.

But my problem with the script is from a story standpoint only (that later would cause some plot holes with the character development of the main protagonist, which I can easily overlook - minor issue). As for the dialogue, here we get to enjoy some of the best character interactions Farhadi has ever created. And the actors deliver, at worst, grounded performances. I loved the performance of the actor playing the protagonist. I appreciate non-verbal acting, and Amir Jadidi shines in those moments here. His face is naturally compelling. He says so much with a sole glare - terrific performance!

As all Farhadi's movies, 'A Hero' is a film told with an enormous grace; a nuanced portrait of domestic life that's so far-reaching as it deals with thematics that are true to life in any culture and society. Again, the film is not up to mark with the best's of Farhadi. The numerous twist and turns seem to pile up and can become exhausting, plus the film feels longer than its running time due to its gradual pacing. But the simple approach, the assured direction, and outstanding performances make this one of the finest portrays of intricate human drama.

"A Hero" (2021 release from Iran; 127 min.) brings the story of Rahmir. As the movie opens, we are introduced to Rahmir, who is on a two day release from jail, resulting from a loan he wasn't able to repay to his creditor, who is owed 150 million tomans (about $3,500). Much to his surprise, Rahmir's girlfriend has found a lady's purse that contains 17 gold coins which would go a long way to pay back the loan. But Rahmir's conscience tells him to instead return the gold coins to its rightful owner. It sets into motion a series of events that no-one could've foreseen...

Couple of comments: this is the latest from Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi, who has won Oscars for both 2011's "A Separation" and 2016's "The Salesman". Here once again Farhadi takes a look at a slice of life, where thing don't evolve as expected. On its face, the movie, very much like Farhadi's prior films, is deceitfully simple but in fact it examine many different aspects: a divorced man with a young son who stutters; the accumulative effects of so-called white lies; the peer pressure to conform in a conservative society. In the end, "A Hero" is another complex, nuanced morality play from Asghar Farhadi that, like an onion, reveals more with each layer as the movie goes by. The no-names cast is fantastic from start to finish. Filmed in the city of Shiraz (in southwest Iran), the film also offers a glimpse of what daily life in Iran looks like today (guess what: they are people just like us, many struggling to simply make ends meet).

"A Hero" premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival to immediate critical acclaim (and winning one of the festival's major prizes). After a limited US theatrical release, the movie moved to Amazon Prime this weekend, where I caught it. If you are in the mood for another top-notch foreign morality play that is is as universal as it is spellbinding, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it on Amazon Prime, Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

You've failed to pay a debt, and you must pay, so it's off to debtors prison for a stay, an inconsistent crime, just like the serving of your time, so you walk a line, keep fingers crossed, and pray. One day, it looks as if you've found the key, to build support from others, and you might be free, you're the hero of the day, they want to listen to what you say, but your creditor is struggling to agree. Momentum builds, and society supports, but soon there's questions about events, that you purport, the best laid plans are all soon scuppered, you're deviations are discovered, future freedom is now buckled, and distort.

Engrossing and engaging, perfectly presented and performed, and if it does nothing other than getting you to think about how you might behave in the same or similar scenario then it's done its job.