imbluzclooby Having faced burnout on the Sales profession myself I decided to Google any good films about the subject. I happened upon this forgotten gem that showed up on a "Top Ten List" of the topic in question. A Youtube channel had it available for free watching and watched I did without interruption. The only people who may find this subject matter interesting are Salesmen, would be salesman and maybe those who are close to a salesman. Otherwise, this documentary may be an excruciating bore to others. We have four characters presented to us who are all haggard, middle aged men trying to hustle a buck for a fancy Bible. The Bible is a publication from the Mid-American Church and is the identifying brand for Church members and Catholics to keep and cherish as a family heirloom and perpetuity. This is what the Sales force is hoping to accomplish by selling these fancy Bibles to low income households. What we learn in these pieces is that Poor people in rural settings are the most susceptible to easy pickings and small time marketing. While the more affluent households are less receptive and harder to sell to. This point is touched upon briefly by one of the fellow salesman, The Gipper, on the team. If anyone has ever worked extensively in sales they can relate to this sad and sardonic fact of American life. But the movie's focus is much more than revealing smarmy sales tactics and cheap cajoling. It explicitly shows how depressing and monotonous the life of a Door to Door salesman is, a profession that has nearly gone obsolete in recent years. These salesmen are matured. The four men are between the ages of 40 and 60, Paul the badger being the eldest, most experienced and least likely to succeed. We see jaded and grown men in suits shuffling around tacky hotel banquet rooms, sharing dingy motel rooms, attending unpleasant sales rallies, enacting the annoying role play scenarios and driving in their rented cars from house to house. Sales is a sad and meaningless profession that is soul-sucking for these men. To add injury to insult we see these same men being emasculated by a boorish and corpulent sales manager, the schoolyard bully who takes pleasure in insulting and condescending his team due to their unsatisfying sales results. Some of us have been there and have witnessed first hand the repugnant confrontations by such people in pep rallies, sales conferences and one-on-one meetings. The quiet desperation seen in these men's faces is palpable and difficult to watch for those who can relate. The cynical hope of making some money or just a meager living is what drives these men to get up every morning. But that hope has dwindled for Paul, the badger, who realizes the waste, futility and hopelessness of his career choice. This is Willy Loman all over again. Paul is presented as the central character that anchors this downbeat story. The overall tone is depressing, even though there are brief moments of sardonic humor. James, the rabbit, comes off as an awkward and goofy sales man yet is still more energetic than Paul. The Gipper is a resilient straight- man who presses forward in his work without getting down. The Bull is the best of the four and even as he comes off as smooth and persuasive in his sales methods, We witness his inability to persuade and win over a couple of people. The Mayslie Brothers are making a statement about the tragedy of how the American Dream has alluded some people. What better way to reveal that debacle than showing us a day in the lives of four traveling Bible salesman? It's brilliant, because it is so real. The camera takes a fly on the wall approach as it focuses on the subjects in their homes. People seem unaware or clueless that the camera is rolling and don't seem affected by it. Unlike reality TV today, this is not fake and the homeowners seem completely detached from wishes to have their fifteen minutes of fame. It's like candid camera where people back in the 60's didn't grasp the concept of how media is alluring. The subject matter is presented so plainly that we see how both the salesman and their targets are victimized. Paying $49.95 for a Bible in monthly installments seems trivial by today's economy, but in the sixties it was quite a sum for lower income folk who most likely didn't qualify and would end up delinquent in their accounts.This documentary is certainly not enjoyable and has the appeal of morbid curiosity. It is a footnote in a bygone era where certain sales models have dwindled. Even though they didn't have the technology of GPS tracking systems and CRM's to aide in their Prospecting management, the basic salesmanship is still there and relevant. This is Cinema Verite and the Mayslie Brothers are credited for this type of genre. The film also has an Avant Garde feel to it that leaves us intrigued and depressed. By the end, as we see Paul lament about his unstable career choice in a motel room among his colleagues,the film ends as the credits flash on a black screen to the industrial noisy sounds of the urban sprawl that leaves us in despair and wonder of what the lack of meaning in a profession can do to some people.

survivalist-810-698711 I found this movie to be in desperate need of narration and editing.I don't think there's a single scene that lasts more than 2 minutes, so you have a bunch of short moments all over the place - salesman in car, salesman in someone's home, salesman in meeting, etc.But there's no real narrative to the story. It's just moments, and a string of moments doesn't make a movie.The makers should have picked one man and followed him, given us some background, etc. Instead there are many faces and it's hard to remember one from the other. There is no start, middle, or end to the story - just a bunch of short scenes and then we're done. So what was the point?They should have introduced these men, told us their challenges, interviewed them and let them speak to the camera, etc. Some men were fired, we're told in passing - why? Poor sales? How about taking one guy who's on the bubble and following his story?Just boring. The "moments of desperation" are kind of meaningless because we don't know the people.I really wanted to like this movie but it's a mess.

tonyinjapan Every time I see a documentary I wonder about the editing process - the choice of what we were *allowed* to see, and the order in which we are permitted to see it. I have the same feeling with "Salesman", but in this case it's what we get to hear. At times it seems like the audio has beenpost-recorded, rather than what was spoken on the spot. It may have had something to do with the sound recording equipment that they were using, but some dialogue clearly does not have the same acoustic quality as other piece of dialogue in the same scene. While most of the dialogue is influenced by the environments in which the participants speak (home, on the road, motel room), some dialogue sounds like it was produced in a neutral environment, like a studio.Point in case is when Paul is dissecting the day in his motel room with his roommate (19 minutes in). Paul steps into the bathroom and his speaking continues. However, given that he was most likely going to the bathroom to relieve himself, we get a dialogue free of bathroom noise, and one that was most likely re-recorded at another time in another location (this might have been so that people's 1969 sensibilities weren't offended). Now, this is clearly a manipulation of reality, which distracts from the 'real' nature of documentary - and, of course, documentaries are what the documentarians allow us to see/hear. This is not intended to devalue the movie for me , but it does serve as a reminder that documentaries are not as 'real' as many believe them to be.In any respect, I'd love to know what became of these guys. I watched a version of Salesman without any such information. Does anybody know?

ZOMBIE-8 You know, I'm VERY open minded when it comes to different types of film, whether its fiction or non-fiction. However, I can't see what people enjoy about this documentary... nor can I see it as "Criterion Collection" material. This film can be summed up like this:1. Salesman approaches possible customer; 2. Salesman explains all paying plans; 3. Possible customer is not interested; 4. Salesman continues pushing; 5. Possible customer still not interested; 6. Salesman keeps pushing; 7. Possible customer puts foot down; 8. Salesman gives up; 9. Salesman complains to other salesmen; 10. Start back at step #1 and repeat entire process until 90 minutes are up.That's it. This "documentary" redefined the term "monotony". Usually a documentary is made up of narration, photos, interviews, and b-roll footage. Imagine just 90 minutes of nothing but b-roll footage. No narration. No interviews. No photos. Just a camera running with some of the footage thrown together in the editing process. Also, all four of the salesmen seemed too similar to really get to know them. The only one I can remotely remember was the skinny one who kept breaking out into the voice of an old Irish woman. In short, remember the feeling you had after seeing The Blair Witch Project for the first time? Same reaction here. Almost the same concept as well: A "documentary" that is nothing but b-roll footage and has a bunch of people doing the same thing over and over again and complaining about it. Like I said, I'm usually pretty open minded about film in general, and I tried as hard as I could to respect this film, but it just fell flat and I left wanting that hour and a half of my life back. The 4 stars I gave out of 10 were more or less pity stars for the effort these people tried in making some type of documentary. There are so many deeper documentaries out there, and this doesn't even come close.