I would like to say that for a large part of my life I've had a moderate interest in movies. So when I found myself thinking about a career in high school I realized I wanted it to be in filmmaking. Throughout the second half of high school I began watching and studying the films of America’s greatest actors and directors. This year I realized I was truly missing out by only watching movies made by English-speaking actors and filmmakers. I soon began to explore the world of foreign filmmaking. While I haven’t seen a large number of foreign films, I’ve seen some movies created by directors that are considered the best in their field (Jean-Luc Godard, Ingmar Bergman, Francois Truffaut and Carl Th. Dreyer). On Monday, July 4, I heard from numerous social media feeds the news of the filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami passing away. Not recognizing the name, I decided to do a little research on him.
Kiarostami was an Iranian filmmaker who had directed a total of 44 films. He had received numerous accolades, such as a British Film Institute fellowship and a Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival for his film Taste of Cherry (1997). Kiarostami has also received praise from some of the biggest people in the film world. Jean-Luc Godard said, “Film begins with D.W. Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami,” and Martin Scorsese said, “Kiarostami represents the highest level of artistry in cinema”.
I was very curious to watch one of his films so I decided to start with what is widely regarded as his best work, "Close-Up" (1990). After watching this movie, I decided to review this movie and leave my opinion on it.
"Close-Up" is an interesting movie with many complex layers. It follows the real-life story of Hossain Sabzian. Sabzian pretends to be the famous Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and enters the house of a wealthy family in Tehran, promising to use their home as a location for his next film. Soon the family realizes this is not the real Makhmalbaf and has him arrested in fear that he was attempting to burglarize them. What truly makes this film unique is the blurred line between documentary and biopic. While the court scenes are said to be from the actual trial, the rest of the film isn’t. It was written based on the events told to Kiarostami, but all of the characters in the scripted part are played by the real people (for example, Sabzian plays himself).
What makes this film so interesting is that throughout the trial you don’t really understand Sabzian’s motive for impersonating Makhmalbaf. Is he crazy and does he actually believe he is Makhmalbaf (he refers to Makhmalbaf’s movie as his)? Or is he a desperate man who sees truth and beauty in Makhmalbaf’s work and just wishes to be like his idol? Without giving away the ending, I just have to say it is truly the perfect way to wrap up the piece.
Now I’m not going to leave a numeric value for the film in fear that it could possibly dissuade you from seeing it, but if you ever get the chance and want to venture into the world of foreign cinema, I recommend seeing this movie. Thank you for creating this, Abbas Kiarostami. Rest in peace.
You can purchase or rent "Close-Up" on Amazon or stream it on Hulu Plus.
