A Hero Review: Oscar-Winner Asghar Farhadi Offers Another Stunning Drama
The Iranian 2021 drama A Hero is universally relatable, which makes the snowballing misfortune all the more haunting. Another project written and directed by Asghar Farhadi — the man behind the Oscar-winning films A Separation (2011) and The Salesman (2016) — A Hero examines the seemingly insurmountable challenges one family faces to pay back an old debt, all while questioning the ethics of their choices. There are no villains nor true heroes in this story — only everyday people doing the best they can in an increasingly bad situation. Simply put, Asghar Farhadi's A Hero is a poignant morality play that shows how a single poor choice can have unforeseen, lifelong repercussions.
Rahim (Amir Jadidi) is an atypical protagonist in A Hero. The film opens with him on leave from prison, excitedly planning a way to pay off his outstanding debt, finally allowing him to be released from incarceration and start working toward regaining his «honor.» This is a recurring theme throughout — although the lines blur between «honor» and «pride.» The basic conflict in A Hero is surprisingly mundane: Rahim is incarcerated because of a debt he is unable to pay back. However, after a stroke of good luck, he comes across a windfall that can help him stay out of prison. Unfortunately for Rahim, the situation is complicated by various factors, all of which become increasingly problematic as time goes on.
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The crux of the issue, at least in the beginning, is that Rahim owes money to a creditor who does not want to drop the complaint against him. Rahim is divorced, and his creditor is his former brother-in-law, Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh), to whom Rahim
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