--- title: "Salesman: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/salesman/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/salesman" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Salesman (1969): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 7 reviews: 6 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics admire the Maysles brothers’ film, and the praise clusters on its direct cinema method: no narration, fly-on-the-wall observation of four Bible salesmen, and long stretches of their patter as they pitch to customers who plainly cannot afford the product. Paul Brennan, known as The Badger, is singled out again and again as the film’s centre, a tragicomic figure whose mounting anxiety and eventual defeat carry the picture. Several reviews read it as a portrait of American capitalism and the selling of faith, with the salesmen cast as both predators and prey. The spread is narrow. The one mixed notice comes from The New Yorker, whose critic questions whether the technique can fully reveal human nuance and finds it awkward in places, while crediting the filmmakers with charity towards their subjects. The New York Times is warm but measured, treating the film as a social document rather than a drama. Later reviews are more enthusiastic, and more than one argues it has grown in stature. ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 February 2007. The Maysles brothers’ 1969 documentary is one of the masterworks of Direct Cinema, following four Bible salesmen with no narration and harrowing scenes of their quota-chasing tactics. It lays bare the cynical soul of US capitalism and exploitative religion, showing desperate opportunists tormented by failure in cheap motels. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/salesman-review/) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 21 March 2020. The critic lauds the film's immersive direct cinema style that captures the salesmen's naturalistic interactions and the wrenching double-awareness of their pitches to struggling customers. It singles out Paul Brennan's volatile, artistic soul and the film's devastating final image as encapsulating the nightmares of failure in American capitalism. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/blu-ray-review-direct-cinema-classic-salesman-on-the-criterion-collection/) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 November 2008. The critic praises Salesman as a 1968 masterpiece of direct cinema and a truly Millerian experience, superior to stage adaptations of Death of a Salesman. The film stands out for its fly-on-the-wall observation of four Bible salesmen, capturing unselfconscious moments and the failure of grand dreams with compassion and empathy. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/05/salesman-maysles) ## The AV Club — Nathan Rabin Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 19 April 2002. The critic highlights the film's exploration of four Bible salesmen as both predators and prey in a system that exploits faith for profit, noting their paradoxical lives of desperation and fantasy. Paul Brennan emerges as a particularly memorable tragicomic figure whose escalating anxiety drives the film's depth and pathos. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/salesman-dvd-1798197199) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 18 April 1969. Canby calls the film a fine, pure picture of a small section of American life and one of the best examples of cinéma vérité or direct cinema. He praises its value as a social document and sometimes funny footnote to contemporary history, centering on the personal defeat of salesman Paul Brennan. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1969/04/18/archives/screen-salesman-a-slice-of-america.html) ## The New Yorker — Penelope Gilliatt Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 12 April 1969. Gilliatt describes the salesmen's craven tactics and the film's capture of their desperation and the awkwardness of direct cinema, while noting some genuinely funny and dignified moments at the sales convention. She questions the technique's ability to fully reveal human nuance but credits the Maysles brothers with trust and charity in portraying American nomadism and sales pressure. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1969/04/19/about-they-fathers-door-to-door-business) ## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 16 August 2005. Festival review. The critic praises the film's direct cinema style and finds it excellent in any era, gaining stature with modern viewing, particularly highlighting the salesmen's patter and interactions with customers. She singles out the tragic arc of 'The Badger' as particularly compelling. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/albert-maysles-salesman-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/salesman.md