100/100

Cinema, even within its immaculate bursts of truth, is a realm of masks and modest deceit. The mystical aura of the screen is the equivalent of a magician's assistant, cluttering and distracting the audience from the formation of the tapestry of the entire experience. Close-up, directed by Abbas Kiarostami, is a stirring deconstruction of cinema and its various influences on society and its audience. With natural and affecting "performances", a faultless sense of editing, and a monstrously quintessential view on the power of moving images; Close-up is simply one of the greatest films ever made (maybe even THE greatest) and one of most extraordinary viewing experiences that I've ever had.

For a film to weave fact and fiction so…

PTAbro's World Tour Stop 16: Iran

This is the story of a liar. An earnest man who lies for the sake of art. A fabricator of reality, in order to control the immediate, the susceptible, the observers. One man who takes a situation he is presented with, twists the facts, and presents them as truth. He manufactures a role, and draws others into the world he is creating; taking normal people and turning them into participants in a thought experiment to see how much they will believe, how far can he take it before it all falls apart. Suspicions arise, but he has a gift for soothing the wary. He creates a back-story, seemingly on a whim, and strengthens his…

As Close-Up proceeded, I immediately thought of Color Me Kubrick, another true story about someone impersonating a famous, but somewhat reclusive director. While Color Me Kubrick was an amusing film, made especially absurd by John Malkovich’s portrayal, it wasn't really anything to write home about. One thing that did strike me with Close-Up was the opening credits, where everyone was listed as playing ‘themselves’. Now that’s novel. Is this a prank?

Those thoughts quickly vanished as I began to get sucked deeper and deeper into this beguilingly simple re-enacted quasi documentary. As I was watching, I simply couldn't rationalize why it captivated me so. Absent was dramatic tension, traditional plot beats, court room emotional histrionics, anger, or tears. Just calm,…

Film #2 of Project 90

”I like to be an artist.”

Close-Up is the kind of movie that leaves you speechless, it is an incredibly unique and massively bizarre cinematic experience unlike any other “movie”, in only 98 minutes director Abbas Kiarostami challenges complex and mind-bending concepts like reality, art, human identity, truth and fiction and presents us a film (a film?! Who can say that this is a film?) which with its super-advanced form of narration and magical performances holds an unimaginable power to astonish and shock. A fearless effort which expands the language of cinema and improves its charm and magic.

What is the reason behind so many people’s love for cinema? Isn't it because for a couple…

I always admire Abbas Kiarostami's attempts to tear down form and tell stories unlike we've ever seen in film before. He's a master of taking what we know, deconstructing it, and creating a completely new type of film, refreshing and exciting. Unfortunately, I just never find myself all engaged in the content surrounding this change of form. A Taste of Cherry and Like Someone In Love both left me cold, while Certified Copy was more interesting as a puzzle than anything else. Close-Up might be my favorite Kiarostami film because of the story being told and questioning the construct of who we are vs. what we say we are.

Knowing almost nothing about Close-Up, I watched the first half relatively…