Acclaimed director Asghar Farhadi returns with another drama, A Hero, filmed and set in his native Iran. Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi) is allowed out of prison on a two day leave. He tries to raise the money to repay the debt that landed him in jail, and thus secure his freedom.
In the hands of another director this could have been a nail-biting against the clock thriller. Instead, this understated and slow burning. Rahim and his girlfriend find a handbag containing gold coins. When they discover that the value of the find will not clear his debt, they return the bag and then try to make use of the resulting publicity. Farhadi directs with his confident style, and by far the best thing about this film is the depiction of everyday life and the bureaucracy in Iran. I also liked the naturalistic performances, particularly by Maryam Shahdaei and Farrokh Nourbakht.
As much as I admired the film making, I did find it tested my patience a little, as scenes became overly long and a bit repetitive.
Available on Amazon Prime Video
Rating: 7 out of 10