Esmail
is like the Alfie of the refugee era, except he is desperate to get married.
His hopes of remaining in Denmark depend entirely on the matrimony he pursues
with mercenary determination. Yet, much like the Cockney chauffeur, Esmail develops
feelings at a rather inopportune time in Milad Alami’s The Charmer (trailer
here),
which opens this Wednesday at Film Forum.
By
day, Esmail works as a mover, when he’s lucky. By night, he haunts a hipster
wine bar, hoping to seduce and marry a Danish woman. He was just too clingy for
his most recent lover, whereas the woman before her inconveniently committed
suicide. Yet, he keeps working scene, because he is desperate to avoid
deportation back to Iran.
Esmail
pursues very Scandinavian Danish women, because he assumes they will be more
susceptible to his charms, whereas a Persian-Dane like Sara would immediately
suspect his motives. Of course, she is totally on to him, yet she still starts
to fall for him, as their paths cross repeatedly. That should be good news, but
it forces Esmail to really take a hard look at his choices and baggage.
You
could say it is surprising how surprising The
Charmer is, because its revelations seem obvious in retrospect, but its two
leads keep us riveted (and blinkered) in their characters’ present tense. Ardalan
Esmaili is all kinds of intense as his near-namesake, projecting a brooding vibe
of danger and the aura of a man oppressed by his own secrets. However, the film’s
real game-changing discovery is Danish-Persian vocalist Soho Rezanejad, in her
feature debut. As Sara, she is cynical, sensitive, and seductive, all at the
same time. Their scenes together crackle and burn.
Sometimes,
the word “thriller” has been applied to The
Charmer, but it is usually followed by several qualifiers. Strictly
speaking, there are not many legit genre elements in Alami’s screenplay,
co-written with Ingeborg Topsøe. Yet, there is definitely quite a bit of lying
and betrayal going on.
Is
the comparison to Alfie overblown?
Maybe, but both films certainly depict how deliberate emotional detachment leads
to desperate alienation. Regardless, Esmail is a deeply tragic and terribly sad
figure. The screen presence of Esmaili and Rezanejad also cannot be denied.
Recommended for mature viewers, The
Charmer opens this Wednesday (12/5) at Film Forum.
