Asghar Farhadi ("The Salesman") delivers another knotty morality tale with his superb new film, "A Hero." Shortlisted for the Best International Film Oscar, and winner of the Grand Prize at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, this heartbreaking drama shows the ripple effect of a simple lie and how a good deed may not necessarily redeem bad behavior.
Rahim (Amir Jadidi) has been in a debtors' prison for three years because he owes Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh) 150,000 tomans. Given two days leave, Rahim and his girlfriend, Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldust) plan to sell 17 gold coins that were discovered in a purse she found at a bus stop. The couple hope that if Rahim uses those coins to repay half of his debt to Bahram, his creditor will accept a bond for the balance, and he will be free from jail. However, when the coins are not worth as much as they hoped, Rahim makes the conscientious decision to coordinate the return of the purse and its contents to its rightful owner. (Because he is returning to prison, he cannot meet the woman directly).
