Ο Πωλητής

brendan o'hare3.5

The main jobs people had in the 60s were bible salesman, MK Ultra participant, and Rat Pack member

FeinDream4.5

Hard to watch at times because of how closely it skims the surfaces of human desperation and self-loathing. Maybe the best use of a Beatles song in any film.

Justin Peterson

Criterion Collection Spine #122"The Bible runs as little as $49.95, and we have three plans on it. Cash, C.O.D., and also they have a little Catholic Honor Plan."Tag along for the fast-talking awkwardness of the door to door bible selling business, in the Maysles brother's Direct Cinema documentary Salesman. This was my second experience with this kind of laissez-faire observant filmmaking, after not being into their later film 'Grey Gardens'. Salesman was a much more subtle and somber experience which I enjoyed taking in, but it left me feeling unsure about how I felt about it at first.(Quick Hits)- Looking back at it, I should view this group of salesmen who each go by nicknames including The Badger, The Gipper, The Rabbit, and The Bull as pretty scummy guys. Since they are aiming to guilt Catholics in lower-income neighborhoods into buying these fancy bibles. But I did find myself wanting to see these guys succeed- I used to work retail in High School and College, so I know full well how much of a pain it is to try and sell people stuff. And recently I have had to deal with it all over again while helping my kids with their various fundraisers"If I were a rich man, yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum."- On the other side of the coin I do like to quickly buy stuff, and not have to shop around. So there have been many occasions where I found myself easily getting talked into purchases, especially since I like to try and make people happy including salesmen. But I have gotten better at saying no as I have gotten older, mostly when it comes to door to door salespeople and telemarketers "Money is being made in the Bible business. It's a fabulous business. It's a good business. And all I can say to people who aren't makin' the money. It's their fault."- Those guys at the sales convention talking a big game about how many bibles they are going to sell, reminded me of occasions when I dreamed of being the top salesmen at the places I used to work. And the pressure of trying to makes sells quotas day after day can get to you- By the end of the doc I did start to key in on how negative and pathetic Paul known as The Badger was, as he strikes out again and again at each house. While his colleagues are getting plenty of sales. But with listening to the commentary I noticed Paul's misery is apparent throughout- Those were some pretty nice looking illustrated bibles, that I could see myself buying- These people really can't afford a dollar a day?? I suppose it is just the fact that it would be yet another expense they would have to deal with- Despite the film having come out in 1969, it seems much older than that with it being in black and white and seeing these people's old fashioned homes - It would definitely not be a good idea to leave a young child alone on your front porch nowadays- I enjoyed feeling like we were also experiencing the unpredictable vibe of these sales pitches with all these unique customers- Seems like a lot of people smoked like chimneys back then- Getting to hear that version of the Beatles song 'Yesterday' was a great way of reinforcing how unfortunate this business is for Paul, and his polite but resistant customers that keep their head down, and just want him to leave- It can be pretty awkward when these guys make the wrong assumptions about people, make references their customers are not familiar with, or even bullying them to pay up- While I mostly connected with the realism of the scenarios and characters in Salesman, it is also interesting to think about the subtext of the premise with how religion has been turned into this consumer product within our capitalist societyOn a first watch, I mostly felt plugged into the hangout aspect of the film. And I look forward to seeing what additional emotional nuances I will pull from it on repeated viewings, now that I know what to expect and look for. Thanks for reading.Happy movie watching ... Skål!