Incredible iconography emerges from the most unexpected places, as master of the slice-of-life, Asghar Farhadi, has shown throughout his catalogue of delicate features of the familial variety. The Oscar-nominated director often uses a palette of restrained colours and textures, decidedly relying on the explosive performances of his stellar cast to translate the gritty and forceful side of the human experience onto the silver screen. For His 2016 feature film, Farhadi examines the two sides of a coin to the victim of physical assault.
For Shahab Hosseini's Emad, life is clad in the tedious humdrum of routine beats. A stint of being a lecturer for cheeky schoolkids by day and a progressive screenwriter at night, sees him having his life entwined with actress-wife, Rana(Taraneh Alidoosti), who becomes the subject of this haunting scene, when a series of tumultuous events rocks their world upside-down.
The setting is cloistered within an intimate place; the same four walls where she fell victim just days ago. Rana is bruised and battered, and awash in a sea of emotions after suffering a terrible assault at the hands of an unknown assailant. She shuns any pity from her husband when he gazes at her, but when he looks away, she longs for it (or is it fear…). And more so when he finds an incriminating object left behind by the abuser. Alas, he too departs into a realm of his imagination when he holds on to the pair of dirty socks. The tension in the air is palpable and intense.
Meanwhile, all the action is captured in a visceral package of intrusive closeups-by way of longtime Farhadi collaborator, Hossein Jafarian's expert lenses- and uncomfortable silence where you can almost hear batted breaths. Lighting is also minimal and dim, almost ominous and depressive, perhaps replicating the turmoil within the couple's minds. So much is laid bare, yet there is so little dialogue and action.
All this is par the course for the brave filmmaking of Asghar Farhadi who frequently challenges the norm and confronts hard-hitting topics in a conservative industry that is constantly evolving. Just one of many moving and effective scenes that encapsulate the oeuvre of the Iranian filmmaker and his penchant for putting hearts on leashes.
