This is the first film I've seen by directors Albert and David Maysles
Salesman
One of my girlfriend's favorite movies, and I've been told since film school that this is a seminal movie of cinéma vérité in the US. Although the Maysles brothers argue in an interview on the Criterion Collection DVD special features what they do is not cinéma vérité but rather direct cinema. I still cannot really figure out what the difference is.
It's an interesting glimpse into some private situations, although for anyone who has ever been pestered by a door to door salesmen, I don't think any of the scenes would be much of a major revelation. Of course we don't normally get to see what the lives of these guys are like once they leave the house, but I feel like I sort of had an idea before watching this. Maybe because like a lot of people when they were teenagers or looking for little jobs in the first years of college, I got roped into some forms of employment that were basically crap door to door sales jobs like this. I'd seen the people involved who had been in it a while. It's a sad and frustrating thing for everyone involved.
Rating: 8/10