Between Stage and Screen: A Conversation with Asghar Farhadi
In a series of tautly constructed dramas that imbue the everyday struggles of married life with suspense and tragedy, filmmaker Asghar Farhadi has proven himself a remarkable observer of the social, moral, and personal dimensions that shape contemporary Iranian society. His latest film, The Salesman, explores these themes through the story of two actors, Rana and Emad (played beautifully by Taraneh Alidoosti and Shahab Hosseini), whose marriage is thrown into crisis when Rana is assaulted in their apartment. Drawing on Farhadi’s background in theater, this visceral look at the psychological effects of retribution is named after Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, a play that the protagonists are depicted rehearsing and performing in, and whose tale of family conflict gives them an outlet to release the tension in their lives. Last September at the Toronto International Film Festival, I met with Farhadi for coffee while he was in town with The Salesman, which has since earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for best foreign-language film and is now playing in theaters. In our conversation, the director, speaking through a translator, discussed the passions that inform his creative process, including his love for the purity of theater and the pleasures of writing.