By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
This year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is Iran’s “The Salesman,” another marital drama from previous Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi (“The Separation”.)
When Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) Etesamis are forced to evacuate their crumbling Tehran apartment, they move into a more dilapidated abode, one that was previously occupied by a single woman with a young child.
The clutter she left behind gives subtle clues as to who she is and the promiscuous life she led. She’s described as “a woman with lots of acquaintances … who lived a wild life.”
Emad and Rana are both actors, working in an amateur theater company’s production of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” playing Willie and Linda Loman, respectively.
There are problems translating the blunt sexuality of this American classic for an Iranian audience, particularly the local censors, as this play-within-a-play takes on subtle significance.
One day, when Emad is out, the doorbell rings. Thinking it’s her husband, Rena unlocks the front door and goes off to take a shower. But it isn’t Emad. It’s a stranger who brutally assaults her and flees, leaving his keys and his minivan outside.
Rana never saw her attacker, nor do we. When Emad suggests going to the police, emotionally devastated Rana refuses, explaining, “I don’t want to have to tell it in front of everybody.”
Indeed, Rana would have to justify why she left the door open and, inevitably, her reputation would suffer. She feels shamed, guilty and afraid to be alone, while enraged Emad is determined to track down the intruder and wreak revenge. Which he does.
When the culprit is revealed, it’s a total surprise. And the final confrontation between the Etesamis and Rana’s shadowy assailant is a riveting revelation.
Asghar Farhadi builds a suspenseful, if contrived thriller that’s haunted by themes of inadequacy, intimacy, respect and, as Miller says, “Attention must be paid.”
In Farsi with English dialogue, on the Granger Movie Gauge, “The Salesman” is an engrossing 8, an empathetic commentary on contemporary Iranian society.
“The LEGO Batman Movie” is an inventive, animated spin-off of 2014’s “The LEGO Movie” that astutely ridicules the Caped Crusader, beginning with the title sequence, since “All important movies start with a black screen.”
Self-centered Batman (Will Arnett) is protecting Gotham City from a series of desperados, led by the demented Joker (Zach Galifianakis), then he regales its citizens about his heroics.
When he’s not crime-fighting, narcissistic Bruce Wayne lives in luxurious isolation with his loyal butler, Alfred (Ralph Fiennes). After microwaving leftover lobster, Wayne watches ‘Jerry Maguire” in his Bat Theater — until he’s joined by eager orphan Dick Grayson (Michael Cera).
Then Gotham City’s new Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) suggests that her department work with the Caped Crusader, rather than just flashing the Bat-signal whenever his vigilante services are required, noting, “We don’t need an unsupervised adult in a Halloween costume karate-chopping poor people.”
So brooding Batman must learn to cooperate with law enforcement and accept Dick’s fervent desire to become his sidekick “Robin” after the Joker recruits a slew of supervillains, like Sauron from “Lord of the Rings,” “King Kong” and the “Wicked Witch of the West” from The Phantom Zone, Superman’s metaphysical space prison.
What makes Chris McKay’s awesome satire work is that many moviegoers are tired of the egotistical Dark Knight — from TV’s ‘60s Adam West to Christian Bale, courtesy of Tim Burton.
Dipping into DC Comics’ universe, a horde of screenwriters came up with clever gags, cameos and pop culture references, including Superman (Channing Tatum), The Riddler (Conan O’Brien), Two-Face (Billy Dee Williams) and Bane (Doug Benson). Plus, Maria Carey as Gotham’s Mayor McCaskill and a nod to Donald Trump’s taxes.
Visually, it’s a delight to see plastic LEGO building-blocks come to life, courtesy of Australia’s Animal Logic, in this family-oriented adventure.
On the Granger Gauge, “The LEGO Batman Movie” is a silly, subversive 7, played for laughs.
Filmed entirely in China, “The Great Wall” is an epic, $150 million action/adventure/fantasy, set in the 12th century and directed by Zhang Yimou (“Hero,” “House of Flying Daggers”).
Riding through the Gobi desert, European mercenary William Garin (Matt Damon) and his sidekick Tovar (Pedro Pascal) are searching for “black powder”(gunpowder).
When they’re taken prisoner by General Shao (Zhang Hanyu), Strategist Wang (Andy Lau) and Commander Ling (Jing Tian), they discover that the Great Wall is a fortress against hordes of ravenous, dinosaur-like creatures, the Tao Tei, that attack every 60 years.
Created by Industrial Light & Magic, the pageantry of first battle scene is awesome. The massive formations of the elite military garrison are color-coded: crimson archers with massive crossbows and a bright blue Crane Corps of spear-toting, female aerialists, secured by cables, bungee-jumping down the wall to stab the reptiles.
Lurking within is another Western captive, Ballard (Willem Dafoe), who helps Tovar plan an escape. And the aerial conclusion, involving hot-air balloons, is dazzling.
Working from an ambitious screenplay, the plot is straightforward with little or no character development and dialogue that’s bizarrely peppered with contemporary phrases. 80% is in English, 20% in subtitled Mandarin.
His social consciousness raised, Garin eventually acknowledges the Chinese army’s altruism with its principled culture of “trust,” celebrating the cohesive unit over capitalism and individuality.
On the Granger Gauge, “The Great Wall” is a sumptuous 6, a visual spectacle.
(Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
