A Hero review: Asghar Farhadi’s drama is an honourable man’s tale of helplessness

4.5/5

Story: Rahim Soltani has just been released from prison for two days and he has found a lost bag full of gold. The gold can fetch the money he needs for his freedom, but he decides to find its rightful owner, and the media hails him as a hero. However, things take a dark turn following this, and everything is in the line for our hero, including his honour. 

Review: Asghar Farhadi’s rise to one of the most noted and celebrated filmmakers in the world was due to his impeccable talent to tell stories about life, and his incredible control over the art of filmmaking. All of this is perfectly reflected in his latest offering, A Hero, which not only has the marks of Farhadi as a director, but also as a storyteller.

The film follows Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi), a man who has been released from jail for two days so he can repay his debt. After he fails to do that, Rahim is imprisoned. He is handed an opportunity to pay off the debt when a bag full of gold coins comes his way, but he decides to find its rightful owner. He is soon hailed a hero among the locals after the media covers the story, but things go horribly wrong for Rahim. 

Firstly, Rahim Soltani played by Amir Jadidi is one of the best characters written by the coveted filmmaker in his career, among the likes of Emad from The Salesman and Nader from A Separation. While it is always difficult to point out the right or wrong in Farhadi’s characters, the same fate follows Rahim. We as the viewers are in a constant battle of trying to define him. Is he a pure soul, like someone says in the film, or is, like his brother-in-law points out, someone who is just playing the society around him? Thankfully, the answer is also provided by the filmmaker through the story in my humble opinion.

While Rahim decides to give the lost gold to its rightful owner, he is a man of honesty. While he plays around with the media and turns himself into a celebrity by small, poorly constructed lies, he is a puppet at the hands of other men, again pointing out a more innocent side of his character. While it still might seem clear to us, within the story, that there is still no way for anyone to clarify what Rahim Soltani is. His rise as a local hero soon turns into a catastrophic fall, into a man of deceit and lies. 

Whatever Farhadi wanted Rahim to be, whatever Rahim becomes to you as the viewer, there is no denying that Jadidi has been more than successful in bringing the character to life. Rahim’s innocence, frustration, anger, regret, and most importantly, the harrowing sense of helplessness, is all perfectly brought to the screen by the thespian. In the parts where Rahim is running around town searching for the woman, who he thought was the rightful owner of the bad and gave away the gold to, Jadidi is successful in turning himself into Farhadi’s character. 

The world Farhadi takes us with A Hero is also a place of unforgiving people who have a hard time letting go of things, be it money or the grudge they might be holding on to. It is in this world where Rahim lives, as someone who has only had losses in life. The only small victory he gets in life, is also soon taken away from him, and with each passing scene, it becomes an experience that fiddles with the viewer’s heart. And towards the end, when he has accepted defeat, it is evident that all Rahim needs now is to keep his honour, and this pulls at all your heartstrings. I left the theatre after A Hero and had to lay down, and think about how and why life is cruel to you. But such is the impact of Farhadi’s A Hero.

Deciding to keep hold of whatever honour he is left with, Rahim goes back to prison. He does not want to fight the system, he does not want to curse the woman who might have tricked him, he does not want to use his stammering son as a trump card for sympathy. He just wants the world to forget it all and leave with whatever honour he is left with.

Farhadi’s final touch as a master filmmaker is the final shot of the film. If it was not evident so far in the film, the final shot is the judgement the filmmaker has given his protagonist. He’s a man who has been let down by the circus that is life. We see Rahim prepare to go back to prison, having only hoped of finding freedom a few days ago, while in the background, we see a man walking out to freedom, with the money Rahim had collected. The final nail in the coffin, that is A Hero, is where the bodies are taken away by the cruel joke called life.

Verdict: Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero is an insightful look at how life can knock you out cold. A must-watch, the film is one of the filmmaker’s best and has the power to pull your heartstrings and leave you defeated, just like the protagonist. Even if you are not a fan of the filmmaker, the film will still be a great watch.