Salesman,
the business of God.
In Salesman (1969) we have that rarest of beasts: the documentary that is both unflinching anthropology and accidental art.
The Maysles brothers' Salesman follows four door-to-door Bible sellers with the hopeful, haunted eyes of greyhounds at a racetrack as they trudge through the slush of American capitalism in 1969.
These poor sods flog their multi-coloured good books to working-class Catholics with the desperation of men who know that failure means not just an empty wallet but a spiritual failure. It's Arthur Miller with real people, and my God, it's probably one of the best documentaries you've ever seen.
![]()
The film focuses on Paul Brennan, "The Badger," whose slow descent into sales purgatory plays out with all the grim inevitability of a Greek tragedy. Each rejection chips away at him until we're left with a man so hollowed out he might as well be selling his own bones.
The black and white cinematography isn't a pretentious cliche, it's the only possible palette for this journey into the monochrome heart of the American dream. The camera, always following thes God’s men, captures every flinch, every forced smile, every moment when these men realise they're not just selling Bibles, they're selling themselves, and finding precious few takers.
What makes this documentary so bloody magnificent is that it never once congratulates itself on its own insight. No narration, no experts, no hand holding.
Just raw humanity caught in the mechanical trap of capitalism.
![]()
When you've seen Salesman you'll never look at anyone trying to sell you anything the same way again. It's not just a film, it's an inoculation against the lies we tell ourselves about success, ambition, and the nightmares of the American dream.
Utterly brilliant, and yes, undoubtedly one of the best documentaries you've ever seen.
Watch it, and be forever changed.
The Maysles brothers' Salesman follows four door-to-door Bible sellers with the hopeful, haunted eyes of greyhounds at a racetrack as they trudge through the slush of American capitalism in 1969.
These poor sods flog their multi-coloured good books to working-class Catholics with the desperation of men who know that failure means not just an empty wallet but a spiritual failure. It's Arthur Miller with real people, and my God, it's probably one of the best documentaries you've ever seen.
The film focuses on Paul Brennan, "The Badger," whose slow descent into sales purgatory plays out with all the grim inevitability of a Greek tragedy. Each rejection chips away at him until we're left with a man so hollowed out he might as well be selling his own bones.
The black and white cinematography isn't a pretentious cliche, it's the only possible palette for this journey into the monochrome heart of the American dream. The camera, always following thes God’s men, captures every flinch, every forced smile, every moment when these men realise they're not just selling Bibles, they're selling themselves, and finding precious few takers.
What makes this documentary so bloody magnificent is that it never once congratulates itself on its own insight. No narration, no experts, no hand holding.
Just raw humanity caught in the mechanical trap of capitalism.
When you've seen Salesman you'll never look at anyone trying to sell you anything the same way again. It's not just a film, it's an inoculation against the lies we tell ourselves about success, ambition, and the nightmares of the American dream.
Utterly brilliant, and yes, undoubtedly one of the best documentaries you've ever seen.
Watch it, and be forever changed.
01 May 2025