TIFF 2021: A Hero
TIFF 2021Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero tells the tale of a little white lie that swiftly spirals out of control with a needle-like focus. A social melodrama, A Hero dives into the constraints of morality, questioning the right action and the ramifications of how witnesses interpret this story.
The story of A Hero stems from a simple scenario: Rahim (Amir Jadidi) is in prison due to being unable to repay a large debt. During a two-day leave from the jail, his secret girlfriend Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldoust) presents him with a lost purse she found containing seventeen gold coins. The couple hopes that the coin’s value may be enough to secure Rahim’s permanent release but the pawnshop tells them the coins are worth much less than the pair believed. In a stroke of genius or desperation, Rahim decides to put up flyers to find the purse’s owner, stoking a media firestorm. Initially, Rahim is seen as a man with integrity, willing to pass up a chance at freedom to return the purse and its contents to its rightful owner, but writer-director Farhadi takes his hero on such a series of twists and turns it’s like being in a spinning teacups ride you can’t escape from.
Farhadi’s A Hero is richly layered as it shows the fickleness of an audience. Rahim is surrounded by all kinds of people – his family, his adoring fans, his debtors, and his jailers – and the pressure and expectations continue to pile on him, he is Atlas with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Amir Jadidi also carries A Hero on his back, oozing charm with his character Rahim. With all eyes on him, Jadidi shows the lack of confidence and the doubts Rahim feels about himself as each action takes him in a totally unexpected direction. He is wide-eyed with half-smiles, dumbfounded, a wise yet subtle performance that makes A Hero work so beautifully. Without Jadidi’s cleverness with his character, the understanding of Rahim’s choices simply would not be the same. Is Rahim actually a well-intentioned man or is he hiding his deceit?
Farhadi makes it clear that Rahim has integrity, at least initially, but with each new story element that comes to light and with each new character that gets introduced, it becomes easier and easier to cast skepticism on him. Farhadi throws so much at A Hero yet manages to make each new twist land, the entangled string of misfortunes never grow tired or become confusing. The absolutely brilliant way Farhadi is able to craft such a moral dilemma from such a simplistic story is incomparable. The singular focus proves that Farhadi is a master at storytelling because he also manages to weave the complicated mess of everyday life into his film.
A Hero is an understated, engaging, and thought-provoking film that provides a rich take on mob mentality. Rahim is on a slippery slope, and Farhadi is relentless with the journey he takes his hero on. The film tells the lesson that nothing in the world comes without a price and asks what it would take for one to sacrifice their virtue. Are you actually a good person, or do you just not do bad things?