"A Hero" follows the calligrapher Rahim (Amir Jadidi), an inmate serving a prison sentence for failure to pay off an enormous debt.
While on a 2-day leave, Rahim meets with his brother-in-law, Hossein (Alireza Jahandideh), to discuss with him his plan to pay off his dues. His secret girlfriend, Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldust), incidentally found a purse full of gold, and he intends to sell it to dealers for a large sum of money. But he later found out that even if it sells at a high price, it is not enough to settle his arrears. So, as a gesture of goodwill, he returned the bag to its rightful owner, attracting media attention.
For a while, Rahim experienced an utter lovefest from inmates, officials, and charities. People on the street are treating him as a hero for his selfless act. But the film then introduced us to his creditor and his daughter, Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh) and Nazanin (Sarina Farhadi), who didn’t believe even a sliver of Rahim’s good deed.
Soon enough, more and more people turned against Rahim. They started to question his story. The doubts cast upon him eventually ruined his reputation. Almost instantaneously, it got bigger and bigger, inadvertently embroiling his son, Siavash (Saleh Karimai), and sister, Mali (Maryam Shahdaei), in his fight to reclaim his dignity.
Asghar Farhadi is regarded as a virtuoso and one of today's most illustrious filmmakers. The Iranian director and screenwriter has already won Oscars for his films "A Separation" and "The Salesman," and this deeply moving film appears to be following in the same footsteps as the previous two, having won the Grand Prix award at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
What’s impressive about this achievement is that Farhadi is not known for making high-budget or high-concept films. All of his stories revolve around ordinary people who find themselves in complicated but realistic situations. His stories are written with the intent of examining multi-layered sociopolitical issues arising from social class, gender, religion, and ethics disputes in modern Iran.
As expected, "A Hero" addresses these pressing themes and ideas without resorting to grandeur. The film is an exploration of the good and bad implications of small personal decisions. And because these choices and actions are well-grounded and well-intentioned, the story draws us in to get deeply invested in the character’s journey. Not to mention that Amir Jadidi is so good at making crestfallen faces that your heart will melt as he gets deeper and deeper into trouble.
Like Farhadi’s previous films, "A Hero" has this documentary-like look that effectively blurs out the line between fiction and reality. It does not cut away or flee from confrontations; instead, it lingers and observes. In his movies, we are the unwanted voyeurs who are gradually drawn into the heart of the problem. In essence, it’s a film that doesn't feel like a film at all. It all feels so real and natural, and it’s vying for our attention.
Another reason it’s difficult to dismiss Farhadi’s film is the script. Despite the fact that his stories are based on moral tales, they are not nagging or preachy. The screenplay is flawless. The scene moves so smoothly that the shift from people’s admiration of Rahim to contempt is seamless and immaculate. "A Hero" is also full of nuanced side characters who all quickly play a specific role in driving the narrative forward as their inner intentions and agendas become entangled with the protagonist's plight to clean up his reputation.
The point of the film is that no good deed goes unpunished. It might be a sardonic remark, but it holds a lot of truth. Helping others can backfire. Good deeds can occasionally lead to sad or overwhelming consequences. Farhadi was able to zero in on this idea intently and emphatically. It did not stop pushing us once it delivered its message, though. It’s a two-hour film, and it uses every minute to compel us to look into many more arresting ideas about human nature and culture.
The main takeaway is that we are all flawed. Our individual goals, motivations, and beliefs will often contradict and intersect with others. That’s why we’re all neither good nor bad people, and we're mostly just reacting to situations. On the one hand, there are many opinions bouncing around in Farhadi’s film. There is good and bad, right and wrong. In the end, you just have to pick the one that fits into your reading of the material. It's probably the main reason he leaves his film open to interpretation and discussion.
5/5
