A Hero

In cinema, there is usually a clear division between the bad guys and the good guys. The viewer identifies with the former, and dislikes the latter. This is easy for the audience and for the film maker.

But Asghar Farhadi is known for not taking the easy way. In 'A Hero', the good guy can turn out to be bad after all, and vice versa. Or, more accurately, the division between good and bad is blurred. Everyone has good intentions, but sometimes they come out bad.

This is why Farhadi is one of the greatest contemporary film makers. His films deal with moral issues, just as people in the real world do. His characters are complex, like we alle are. There are no easy solutions to the problems, just as in real life.

'A Hero' tells the story of an ordinary man who gets involved in a situation he no longer controls. He is perceived as a hero because he returned a bag with valuables to its owner, but when his story is doubted, fate turns against him. The situation becomes complex, more and more people get involved and there is gradually more at stake as the story unfolds.

The screenplay of this film is perfect. Every details has a meaning somewhere in the story. Things are not spelled out, but nothing is left vague. The beauty is also that this is a circular story, with an end that is the opposite of the beginning. The very last scene is wonderful in its simplicity and understated meaning.

With this film, Farhadi shows us also what life is like in modern Iran. It's not a political film and the story is rather universal, but several elements can be perceived as critical for Iranian society. The 'hero' is jailed for an unpaid debt, which is something we don't do in western countries. He has to keep his relationship with his girlfriend a secret, because they are not married yet. Another character had to spend his daughter's dowry, and we see her as an unmarried woman, living with her father.

For me 'A Hero' is one of the best films I've seen this year and also one of the best films Farhadi has made. A perfectly told story, which keeps on offering new elements to evaluate reality - that is what film making should be all about.

After a rare unexpected misfire with his last feature, the Oscar-winning Persian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi returns with a vengeance to prove why he is one of contemporary cinema's finest storytellers and delivers what's arguably his best work since A Separation. Jam-packed with all the attributes that make his stories so restlessly riveting, A Hero is another laser-focused & razor-sharp drama that unravels with cut-throat intensity.

Written & directed by Farhadi (About Elly & The Salesman), the premise is deceptively simple as expected and yet again, using mere truth & lies, the director weaves a tightly structured & intricately layered narrative that keeps us on the edge at all times. His unfailing ability to take a seemingly straightforward situation and then effortlessly turn it into a complex, challenging & nerve-wracking moral conundrum is one trait that never fails to impress.

What makes Farhadi's latest film so gripping & effective is that we as viewers can relate to what the protagonist is trying to do but we also see him unnecessarily dragging himself into a predicament that becomes increasingly difficult to escape from with every decision he makes and yet, all we can do is be a spectator to his undoing. Amir Jadidi's performance is crucial to this web of truth, lies, morality, deceit, honour, conscience & consequence and he plays his role to perfection.

Overall, A Hero is an ingeniously crafted & tautly narrated drama that unfolds with the unrelenting ferocity, nail-biting tension & edge-of-the-seat quality of a first-rate thriller and is accomplished enough on all fronts to cement its spot amongst the best all-round films of 2021. Presenting the Persian auteur at the apex of his craft while also establishing him as a luminary who's operating on a whole another level and is far ahead of his contemporaries, A Hero is top-tier cinema & a flat-out masterpiece.

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.

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.