After having directed in Spain, the disappointing “Everybody Knows”, Asghar Farhadi returned, with “A hero”, to his homeland, Iran, to find the rigorous and talented style which characterizes his cinema. As in “A Separation”, everything is calculated to the nearest millimeter to make a fascinating and magnificent film.
Shot in Shiraz, far from the tumult of Tehran, this new film by Asghar Farhadi is a poignant moral tale with a suspense that keeps the viewer on the alert.
The main character, the “hero” (formidable Amir Jadidi), is imprisoned for an unpaid debt while his creditor is impatient. One day off, his lover (Sahar Goldust) brings her a bag full of gold coins that she has just found. Selling them could allow him to regain his much desired freedom and that is what he envisions first. But, taken with scruples for the person who lost this bag, he places a small advertisement giving the address of the prison in order to return it.
This honesty makes him “a virtuous hero” for the prison administration which summons the media. They talk so much and more about this exceptional gesture, further increased tenfold by social networks. So each one watches the other …
The rumor swells, but, after praise, a relentless mechanism is set in motion. Here is that his act is distorted and seems suspicious: is it a lie, a manipulation, dubious schemes … The gossip is amplified by blackening the character so much and more.
What is even more painful for this “hero”, divorced with the custody of his young son, is to see the latter also be the victim of bitter mockery, and suffering even more to discover his father thus crushed. The relationship between father and son is touching. The child understands everything and does not understand anything … He is afflicted with a stammering and his speech stumbles constantly.
Without knowing how to express the reasons for his actions, the “hero” seems trapped in a trap from which he cannot deviate and surprises arise as they are linked between dishonor and guilt. So, each one watches the other …
As always, Asghar Farhadi is very strong in the field of argumentation on moral values.
His outlook is generally rather pessimistic about the ethics of the company. A society which sets a trap to embed this “hero” whose smallest generous gesture seems suspect to a crowd ready to be delirious.
During the last Cannes film festival, Asghar Farhadi obtained for “A hero” the Grand Prize (tied with the Finnish Juho Kuosmanen for “Compartment n ° 6”), but many were those who would have gladly awarded him the Palme d’Or and we are talking about this masterful film for the Oscar for best foreign film.
Caroline Boudet-Lefort
Photo of A: | Copyright Amirhossein Shojaei
Release in theaters December 15, 2021 in theaters / 2h 07min / Thriller, Drama
By Asghar Farhadi
With Amir Jadidi, Mohsen Tanabandeh, Sahar Goldust
Original title Ghahreman
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Cinema: “A hero” by Asghar Farhadi – Art Côte d’Azur