Close-Up (1990)
Life imitates art.
Presentation:
Is life a performance? Master Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami directs a rare piece of work involving the true crime of Hossain Sabzian. In real life, Sabzian impersonates the respected director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and goes to court for fraud. We are able to see the actual trial take place as the judge somehow permits filming, a once in a life time opportunity. After they agree to be in the film after the trial, we see a mix of real trial footage and retrospective reenactments with the plaintiffs and defendants playing as themselves. Truly an impossible film and experience where reality meets art.
Conclusion:
Bleeding cinema and reality is something Persian filmmakers do flawlessly. The best part of this film is the actual trial where there are no actors, just an actual court case. However, everything is pretty real and lacks the dramatic flair you might expect in other films. The premise is obviously commendable and truly artful, but the director never convinced me to care. He assumes the mere idea of the documentary/film is self evident of its greatness, which it is, but I personally didn’t feel reason to be invested in this story. Still incredible and absolutely daring.
Recommendations
I still don’t care about 60 minutes.