A Hero Movie Review: Gently persuasive complex human drama

A still from A Hero

Film: A Hero (Original Farsi title: Ghahreman)

Cast: Amir Jadidi, Saleh Karimael, Sarah Goldoust, Mohsen Tanabandeh, and Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy

Dir: Asghar Farhadi

Rating: 3½/5

Runtime: 127 mins.

Asghar (A Separation, The Salesman) Farhadi continues to draw out moral ambiguity with A Hero, his most recent internationally celebrated effort. He fashions a fascinatingly complex character study by throwing a simplistic idealist into a cauldron of morally corrupting influences and allows him to navigate the thin line between right and wrong. In fact Farhadi impartially analyses society's current moral indistinctness by allowing his characters free reign in voicing their expectations from the man caught in the middle of it all. Farhadi's films are a mirror to society's changing definitions of right and wrong. There are no good guys or bad guys, right or wrong are a matter of perception and is entirely relative to the situation and circumstances. But human vulnerabilities remain constant.

The narrative is a tangled web woven together, pushing the envelope in order to underline the many complexities within human nature. The story is about a hapless sign writer and calligrapher Rahim (Amir Jadidi), who gets caught in a deception, and loses his reputation as a consequence. He is sentenced to an extended jail time for being unable to offset his debts. Jail time is not what he is most worried about. He prizes reputation above all else and all through the film is trying to save it from being besmirched. The situation brings to mind what Iago said to Cassio in Othello "Reputation is an idle and most false imposition." Unfortunately for Rahim, reputation is the one thing that is valued above all in a fairly modern yet conservative society like Iran.

The post-modern conservative society trappings are visible in viral social media disclosures involving his aggressive venting against a loan shark, being shamed by his debtor and his secretive liaison with a single woman, Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldoost), and her efforts to be supportive and caring. A Hero revs up its drama by singing paeans to a seemingly good deed by Rahim and then exposing the deception behind it - literally setting him up for a big fall. The slice of Iranian life heft is what keeps us beguiled and interested in this cautionary tale.

Auteur writer/director, Asghar Farhadi is in sparkling economical form here. The Oscar-winning Persian filmmaker who spends most of his time outside Iran, recognised as one of contemporary cinema's finest storytellers, delivers a sumptuous thought-provoking piece of cinema. Matter-of-fact becomes profound within minutes as a sharply edged drama unfolds in a restrained and calculated pace, with seemingly fascinating ease. Farhadi beautifully articulates shifting character perspectives by drawing out impeccable natural performances from his cast - especially Jadidi who employs an overtly mild mannered outlook before engaging in an altercation which emphasises the breakdown of his carefully constructed world. The unobtrusive, fluid camerawork make his and the director's efforts weightier. This is meaningful cinema and a must watch!