Salesman

Paul Brennan is "The Badger". Charles McDevitt is "The Gipper". James Baker is "The Rabbit" and Raymond Martos is "The Bull". However this is not yet another British gangster film from Guy Ritchie but rather a fly-on-the-wall documentary following these four door-to-door bible salesman as they go about their trade and shoot the breeze with one another. Selling for as much as $40 per ornate book, the target audience are mostly poor catholic families who are given a hard sell before being offered a range of payment methods. In the middle of a sales slum, we follow Paul Brennan as he tries to break his losing streak.

Probably the worst job I have done wasn't that bad but was when I was a cleaner 7 mornings a week while also going through university. It felt worse because I also worked weekend evenings in a bar. However I would happily do either of those again if the only other option open to me was telephone or door-to-door sales because to me it is a soul-destroying job. I know some people can excel at it but others scrape by on their commissions, trying to force products onto others that they wouldn't buy themselves. This documentary confirms my thoughts on the job as we follow Paul Brennan on sales calls, conferences and sales meetings. Those familiar with Glengary Glenross will know where they are already and personally I kept seeing Brennan as the Gill character from the Simpsons, frantically just trying to get by. The film doesn't provide much more insight than that because it is very much a fly-on-the-wall affair that lets the characters speak for themselves.

By doing this it lays bare the approach of the sales game. It is depressing for several reasons and it made me feel sympathy for Brennan as often as I felt repulsed by him. He doesn't care about those he is selling to and he lies, applies pressure and guilts his marks into buying something they don't need and often don't actually want. But it is easy to feel for him because he is doing a job. I have never had someone coming door-to-door astonish me with a service or product that I suddenly wanted, especially nowadays, if you want it and can afford it, you probably already have it, but the sales staff still need to sell and Brennan's way is the most basic approach. The Maysles brothers wisely stay out of the way and I was quite amazed at how unobtrusive their camera was even when the sales were in relatively confined rooms.

Overall this is a rather depressing film that could have had more in the way of insight but does well to stand back and just observe. Modern documentaries often lose that so in a way it was refreshing not to have talking heads throughout the footage. Could have been more then but the cold look at the sales business, the sellers and the potential buyers is well done and makes for engaging if rather downbeat entertainment.

"Salesman" isn't quite the Maysles Bros.' (and Charlotte Zwerin's) crowning achievement, although it comes close. I personally feel that "Gimme Shelter" is their best film, but that might have something to do with it being a more enjoyable, if still harrowing film. "Salesman" is an uncomfortable examination of human emotions, and provokes a strong reaction of guilt and sympathy. Some may insist that a documentary has to be somewhat relevant to have any real value, but "Salesman", a film on the lives of door-to-door salesmen, the product of a mostly by-gone era, is pure contradiction of this claim.

A landmark 'cinema verite' film, "Salesman" does not feature any sort of narration or writing, allowing the viewer to take the images presented in the film and interpret them as they wish. There are statements that the Maysles Bros. are probably trying to make with this film, statements about suburbia, statements about the ties between business and organized religion, and more, but the beauty of the film is that it is up to you if you see this in the film or not, because really it is simply a document of an average day for a salesman at the time.

"Salesman" is funny in parts, but taken as a whole it is one of the saddest films you will ever see, a document of the quiet desperation of this lifestyle. The directors of the film make powerful statements, but do so subtly, almost unobtrusively, allowing the viewer to fully engage themselves in the almost routine feel of the film. It is a crime that, despite its strong reputation, relatively few people have seen this essential film from possibly the very best documentary filmmakers there have ever been.

10/10

'Salesman" is a stark reminder of the evolution of the modern documentary. As a viewer I did not feel manipulated by the editing or the filmmaker's ego or perspective. The film is a historical recording of an occupation from a by gone era that promised all the perks of the American Dream while leaving many that chose it for their career living lives of quiet desperation, poor and void of any significant contribution to society.

One of the thoughts this film left me with was how many occupations in twenty-first century America are sales dependent. Selling oneself, an idea, candidate, lifestyle, fill in the blank for an alternative to "bible." Pounding the proverbial pavement to pay the mortgage with little regard to the negative impact ones profession may have on society or nameless, faceless individuals. In today's world fortunes are made as life coaches, motivational speakers, politics, infomercials, winning American Idol, all variations of selling something to a consumer society that can ill afford the debt.

"Salesman" is a timeless film and a brilliant reminder of the origins of the documentary.

As with Frederick Wiseman's "Titicut Follies," the Maysles brothers' "Salesman" is truly a landmark for the "cinema verite" documentary movement of the 1960s. Although the former is shockingly realistic in a sensational way, "Salesman" is actually the more disturbing for showing the Hell-on-earth that marks the workaday world for most of humanity. If ever a film shows that most people "lead lives of quiet desperation," this is it. In my lifetime of viewing films, I've never seen a non-fiction film more affecting and poignant. That this film didn't make the AFI Top 100 is practically scandalous. Be forewarned, this is an oppressively sad, yet slyly funny, film that is not easy to watch. It speaks volumes about American business practices, the ties between business and organized religion, the exploitation of religious belief (and its perversion via materialism), the dehumanization of workers, the crushing wisdom that can come with aging, the scary mindset of suburban denizens, and a lot more. If ever anyone had the right to ask the question, "Is that all there is?" it would be Paul, an aging Bible salesman having trouble meeting his sales quota, who serves as the film's central character. The film is brutally honest, yet powerfully manipulative. It does beg the question: how much is real and how much is affected by the presence of the cameras? One does feel, after seeing this, that reality is just as bad as Dorothy Parker said it was. For those who fail, the American Dream is a nightmare. In short, a film you'll never forget.

A 1969 documentary about a group of salesman selling bibles to the masses. It's probably most interesting because you see how people lived and worked 40 years ago. The salesmen themselves are interesting but so are the people they meet. Of course they use every trick in their book to sell their bibles ("Did I tell you I'm an Irish catholic?"). Very interesting to see how these men worked in a job which is now very much gone. Alone on the road they share their misery and failings with their fellow salesmen who yawn and offer some half-hearted advice.

Salesman is a real version Glengary Glen Ross 25 years before that movie was made. What we have here is a time capsule of 1969. The decorations in the homes, the clothing, the cars, the way they talk, it's all pretty dated by today's standards. But it's interesting to see how people lived in 1969.