ironhorse_iv Review of Salesman

Salesman (1969)

An Inside look of working-class America in the post-Kennedy era

[7/10 · 11 April 2013]

Like the salesman in this film, this movie is also a hard sale to the normal audience. It's also hard to find. Unless you happen to catch the film on TCM or a really old library. You might not know of this movie. It's really hard film to watch, its moves really slowed and nothing about it really states out in my opinion. There is no voice over, no music cues, or no title card to tell us what is happening, just a film shot and cut on 16mm about people doing their job. It's feels like a low budget Mad Men episode with bad filming in some scenes. One of the two cameras used can be seen in shot in the film. The hand-held microphone used to record the film's sound is visible in other shots. The film also get flipped horizontally, as evidenced by the parts in the men's clothes and hairs standing in a weird direction. It's weird in a way, and shows how limited they were in filming. Cloud of smoke from the chain-smoking and whiskey drinking that becomes a measure of the characters' empty lives. The Maysles Bros. did a wonderful job with this film as it follows four salesmen (nicknamed the Badger, the Gipper, the Rabbit, and the Bull, based on their particular on-the-job attributes) from Boston to Florida as they struggle to sell lavishly illustrated Bibles to reluctant, blue-collar customers as desperate to keep their money as the salesmen are to take it. The film mostly focuses on the anguished plight of Paul "the Badger" Brennan, an aging Boston-Irish veteran of the salesman circuit, weary of his job and unable to hide his exhaustion from customers and colleagues alike. He always talk in bizarre rants full of mumbles complains. Surprising there isn't a lot of action in the film. By action, I meant, we don't see really mean, or crazy people, the salesman has to dealt with. There is little amounts of scenes with people closing doors on them. Most of the customers, are respectable, and seem normal who gives the salesman the time to pitch what they are selling before saying no. So unlike today's society, where if you walk to somebody's front door, you're more like get a slam onto your face, before you finish a sentence. Anyways, we hear about most of how the sale went in the film's many dreary motel rooms scenes rather than seeing it in person. The film makes it clear, however, that the salesman are also under enormous pressure by their boorish boss. 'The next man that gets off base with me, I"m gonna tag him out'. He is quoted to be saying to them. He's the boss that every man probably doesn't want to have. In my opinion, spreading the good word of the lord should be free and I find it funny that these salesmen is using people's beliefs to make an extra buck. Reminds me a bit of fake shepherds tempting and scamming people to buy their way into heaven. I would also like to hear more about the struggle of being away from home and family for long periods of time, but what he heard are talks about boring lingos. At less, there was a small scene in the middle where the men decide to go swimming to give us something new. Like door to door salesmen over the years, got replace by amazon and Ebay so has Cinema Verite fallen out of vogue, replaced by filmmakers telling stories rather than showing them. This movie isn't for everybody, but if you happen to find it. Give it a watch.