A Hero

After a prisoner is celebrated for choosing altruism over his own freedom, rumours begin to circulate questioning his integrity in Academy Award-winning director Asghar Farhadi's tense drama.

A prisoner serving time for unpaid debts is granted two days of leave from prison. He reunites with his partner, who has found a lost handbag containing gold, a windfall that could help to repay his debts and buy back his freedom. Deciding to return the gold to its owner, Rahim becomes a good news story: a prisoner who chooses altruism over his own freedom.

Celebrated as a hero, rumours begin to spread. Rahim's integrity is cast into doubt.

Curator’s Note
Fittingly for a film named A Hero, the performance by Amir Jadidi (A Dragon Arrives!) is central to the film. He brings a quiet, almost crestfallen energy to Rahim, who is at times passive, indecisive and ill-prepared for the situation escalating around him. There are notes of Bicycle Thieves here, but also of Asghar Farhadi’s earlier films, which have zeroed in on the minutiae of ethical dilemmas and the specificity of personal decision-making.

A Hero premiered at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Grand Prix, sharing the prize with Juho Kuosmanen's Compartment No. 6.  Following the film’s success at Cannes, a former student of Farhadi accused the director of plagiarising her short documentary work based on the real-life case. The case was dismissed as both films were inspired by a real incident.

This year will see Asghar Farhadi’s return to Cannes to premiere his new film Parallel Tales, which is inspired by an instalment of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Dekalog.