The two films today come with impressive pedigrees. One is directed by Guillermo Del Toro, his take on the noir genre. The second is an award-winning film from Iran, that may well be competing in the Best Foreign Picture category come Oscars-time.

Nightmare Alley (HBO Max) - This is Guillermo Del Toro taking on the noir genre, and doing a remake that artfully blends the world of carnies, grifters and con men, with that of 1940 America. It’s got a cast that’s super-impressive, led by Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, and Willem Dafoe, among others. Cooper plays a violent grifter who, after a heinous crime, stumbles upon a traveling carnival, and insinuates himself into their closed world. This takes up the first half of the film, showing how he then acquires a new skill set, and feeds himself the illusion that he’s destined for greater things by taking this ‘talent’ out to the real world and fleecing the rich and moneyed. It’s a classic hour set-up, with ruthless ambition goes slam against the much more ruthless world of the rich.

If I have level a criticism of the film, it would be that the setting up of this duality takes far too long, and when we do shift to the scenes outside the carnival, we’ve lost some patience and Cooper’s character has become a tiring scammer. Blanchett has been mentioned as a possible for Best Supporting Actress nominations, but while I admire the actress, I don’t personally see it happening for this role. The film lacks the intrinsic weirdness of The Shape of Water, or even Pan’s Labyrinth - and how Del Toro would so nimbly blend the real psychological drama and rich characters, with the strangeness that’s imbued in the storyline. Here, there are dramatic moments and strong acting, but the story it all stands on, comes across as too cold and unmoving.

A Hero (Amazon Prime - Iran) - This is the film that won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 2021. Directed by Asghar Farhadi of Iran, it’s a compelling human drama that leaves us with as many questions as there are answers; and in this case, it’s a good thing, for being so thought-provoking. Rahim is a street painter & calligrapher in Iran, and when a partner in a new business runs away with the money, his guarantor is forced to send him to jail. On a two-day leave from jail, he meets with his girlfriend/wife-to-be, who came upon a deserted handbag with gold coins. Rather than keeping it for themselves or using it to pay off his debt, he puts up signs in the hope that the owner will claim the bag. That’s the ‘hero’ part of the narrative.

What follows is more complex, and terrifyingly human - and it’s what elevates the films of Farhardi, as he examines the human dilemma. First, while feted and celebrated as a local hero who restores faith in humanity, little chinks in the armor begin to appear. The debtor is being bullied to exonerate Rahim from the debt he owes him, but he questions if Rahim’s story is really all he says. The woman who claimed the handbag suddenly disappears into thin air and the frustration, on Rahim’s part, leads to a small incident of violence. While no one is really hurt, it’s an incident that bears heavy consequences. You feel for Rahim, know he’s trying as hard as he can to do right; but you’ll also see why it’s so easy for things to fall apart. An incisive study of the price that can be extracted for instant fame & celebrity.