Salesman

Saw Salesman, a Maysles brothers documentary about door-to-door bible salesmen in the late 60s. We follow a team of Boston-based old men who are whithered and pomaded, dressed in short-sleeved white shirts and black ties, they speak bitterly about brush-offs and rejections, about thinking negatively and pushing product. There's a uniquely American feel to the film, with the salesmen badgering families of poor and religious folks into buying lavishly illustrated bibles, cradled in pebbled leather (comes in both red and white, but we find most people go for the white.) It's a complex mixture of social forces. These people are parasites, bilking the poor and lonely and faithful, but surely no one is scrounging harder than they for a buck. One of them remarks that the bible sales business is like a carousel where even the gold paint has been stripped off. The others rebuke him for thinking negatively.

There's an interesting scene where they go to the regional meet-up to receive pep-talks and to watch other people receive awards. The pep-talks, of course, loudly proclaim that there's money out there and that the salesmens' struggles are just because they're not passionate enough or because they're not devout enough. It's unclear whether the devotion is supposed to be to the church or to the bible marketing company.

The film is a documentary in the true sense, with no narrative to push, only events to witness. It's fascinating window into a few lives lived on the fringes.