| Salesman | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Albert Maysles David Maysles Charlotte Zwerin |
| Produced by | Albert Maysles David Maysles |
| Cinematography | Albert Maysles |
| Editing by | David Maysles Charlotte Zwerin |
| Distributed by | Maysles Films |
| Release date(s) | April 17, 1969 |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Salesman is a 1969 direct cinema documentary film directed by brothers Albert and David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin.[1]
Contents |
The documentary follows four salesmen as they travel across New England and Florida trying to sell expensive Bibles door-to-door in low-income neighborhoods. The film focuses in particular on the struggles of salesman Paul Brennan, an old Irish Catholic from Boston who struggles to keep up his sales.
When the film was first released, Vincent Canby, film critic for The New York Times, lauded the film and wrote, "...[the] documentary feature about four door-to-door Bible salesmen who move horizontally through the capitalistic dream. It's such a fine, pure picture of a small section of American life that I can't imagine its ever seeming irrelevant, either as a social document or as one of the best examples of what's called cinema vérité or direct cinema...It is fact, photographed and recorded with extraordinarily mobile camera and sound equipment, and then edited and carefully shaped into a kind of cinematic mural of faces, words, motel rooms, parlors, kitchens, streets, television images, radio music—even weather."[2]
Critic Dennis Schwartz had a different take and wrote, "It's a pathetic story about religion reduced to materialism as the aggressive Bible salesmen prey on the vulnerable to persuade them to buy a product they are reluctant to purchase. This engaging look at hungry Bible salesmen in action who are not adverse to lying to make a sale contrasts to the sanctimonious hyperboles set forth by the industry speakers at a sales convention in Chicago. It mocks the gullible public, the untrustworthy salesmen and the competitive concepts of capitalism that drives the human condition in America. This up close look at the anxious Bible salesmen trying to close the deal has become a cult classic documentary. The salesmen are not concerned about anything but selling as many Bibles as they can, which says a lot about our consumerism culture that we don't often hear in such an open way."[3]
In 1992, Salesman was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
   | Criterion Collection essay by Toby Miller - Salesman (1968) - The Criterion Collection |
| | Criterion Collection essay by Toby Miller - Salesman (1968) - The Criterion Collection |
| | The Criterion Collection DVD - Salesman (1968) - The Criterion Collection |
| | Canby, Vincent - The New York Times > Log In |
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