realism Archives - The Cinema Archives

The Salesman – 2016 Farhadi

Narrative brilliance from Farhadi once again with his engrossing moral dramas where awful things happen but it is never one person’s fault Starts with a strong montage opening of the stage set Shahab Hosseini is back from A Separation - and he plays Emad. Emad is staging Arthur Miller's The Death of a Salesman- a strong subtext for Farhadi's narrative Beautiful opening two-minute handheld (Farhadi's use of handheld is important to his style- authenticity- realism) tracking shot both technically brilliant and the metaphor for the building crumbling is spot on and perfect Farhadi post-traumatic stress, Hosseini's character is consumed with this incident

American Honey – 2016 Arnold

Easily the best film to date from Arnold-- and another boost for the A24 brand social commentary- "I'm the spiderman of the dumpster"- much of film is through the eyes of these troubled impoverished youth (sort of a 21st century Dead End kids)-- selling magazines in areas with large houses, rich subdivisions (until the end when we see a lower income neighborhood) Part gorgeous travelogue and part tender love story wonderful use of music while riding in the van- modern day Easy Rider in many ways - non-professional actors used throughout including lead role Sasha Lane wonderful use