“This is a film that made itself”

‘Close-Up’, directed by  Abbas Kiarostami in 1990, is an Iranian drama based on the real life story of a man who posed as the notable Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf (the man who made ‘Gabbeh’) and was arrested and charged with fraud. Kiarostami follows the story by using the real people and getting them to restage the events, following the trial of the man and then showing him emotionally meeting the real Makhmalbaf after being forgiven by the family he conned. This kind of blurred line between reality and fiction seems to be a common on in Iranian new wave cinema, particularly in Kiarostami’s movies, but also in others I’ve seen, for example in Samira Makhmalbaf (daughter of Mohsen)’s ‘The Apple’. The film is threaded with philosophy about filmmaking and acting, and these themes are perfectly delineated through the confusion of what is performance and what is real throughout the film. Kiarostami’s voice is a strong presence which is strange but works well with the central tenet of the film. It’s strange because the film allows us into a very personal story, and into a usually private space, a courtroom, but we see  Kiarostami ‘directing’ proceedings both traditionally by starting and finishing the scene, but also by interviewing and interceding on the behalf of the accused man. Ultimately, the film is about forgiveness and humanity. The conclusion, in which the man returns to the family with Makhmalbaf, to give them flowers and is greeted as a family member, is intensely moving and profound.

Would I recommend it? Yes – it’s a humane and deeply worked out film that tells a small story, but one that taps into mush wider themes about filmmaking and acting. Watch in a double bill with ‘The Apple’.