Close-Up

Starring: Hossain Sabzian, Mohsen Makmalbaf, Adolfazl Ahankhah
Directed by: Abbas Kiarostami
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Drama
1990

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A true story of a man (Hossain Sabzian) who is arrested in Iran for impersonating a famous movie director.

Review:

Tim: I admit I still don't fully know what to make of Abbas Kiarostami's Close-Up. This is only the second film from Iran that I've seen, and it's a doozy. The film is a docudrama- multiple scenes were filmed in a courtroom as the actual events took place. So, it absolutely has a documentary aspect to it. However, Kiarostami then has multiple scenes where the individuals involved recreate scenes that really happened- so, they are untrained actors, playing themselves, recreating conversations. What is this? Is it drama? Is it documentary? My head is spinning considering what all of this means.

Let me pause for a minute and give some praise to Kiarostami. Why in the world would he ever consider doing this and what gave him the courage to think he could pull it off? It's an insanely ambitious endeavor- to have non-actors recreate scenes as they happened. And, one of them is a man accused of crime and clearly has something not altogether right with him? The whole thing is absurd, but the most insane thing is that he pulls it off. Somehow, Kiarostami got these individuals to realistically recreate scenes in a way that feels very close to a documentary. It never feels like these individuals (who again, are untrained) are acting. They're simply talking. None of this is overly entertaining, but it's a mesmerizing cinematic accomplishment. The courtroom scenes are fascinating (and Kiarostami gets to speak up quite a bit, which surprised me), but it's the recreation of the other scenes that truly fascinated me. I have no clue how he was able to pull this off so effectively.

One other meta, bizarro aspect of this film- so, Hossain Sabzian pretends to be a famous Iranian movie director, for no real reason, other to gain respect and feel good about himself. There might be some light fraud involved as money does exchange hands, but the whole thing is so odd- he convinces this normal Iranian family (whom, I have to admit, don't come across as very intelligent) that he's a director, although he clearly has no money. He spends a good deal of time with them in their home, even staying over a night. He uses his clout as a "director" to suggest filming a movie in their home. And then, obviously, they wise up, he gets arrested. But, the insane thing is that his actions cause Kiarostami to get involved, who films an actual movie in their home with their family (and Sabzian) playing the key roles. I can't even fathom the unreality here, the minuscule chances of this happening the way it did.

Kiarostami does a great job of giving the spotlight to those involved. Sabzian makes for a fascinating character study. The man is down on his luck, but inspired by the movies, especially those by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. He sees a mirror of his own life and it offers an escape, an explanation for his suffering. His actions in this movie are inexplicable. Why would he do this? What was his aim? I don't think he even knew. To hear and watch him speak, to try to explain himself- these are fascinating moments captured on screen. The family he tricked felt very silly to me, but they were willing to put themselves out there, and its crazy that they were willing and able to recreate the scenes of them getting duped. The character study aspect of this film is tremendous.

I've been praising this film so far, but I still only consider it a "good" movie. I know it's shown up on lists of the greatest movies of all time (I watched it because it was on Sight & Sound's list) but I couldn't see that. I think it's a good movie that acts a true curiosity, but I don't think it's a "great" film. I left unsure of what I watched or why it mattered. We don't get deep insight into Sabzian, not really. The whole endeavor felt experimental and unexpected, but I didn't love anything I saw on screen. It was interesting, but never really compelling. The best documentaries dig deep and enlighten- this docudrama doesn't quite do that. We see recreations of scenes that happened, but the movie never digs deeper, never tries to explain or give any of it meaning. Perhaps it was impossible to achieve this, but I couldn't shake the feeling that this film shows crazy events, but only at the surface level.

I still enjoyed Close-Up and I did spend time thinking about it, so it's at least mildly thought-provoking. But, I have to admit I feel like the film is a bit overrated. It's good, but I don't see it as a landmark of cinema. That's okay, opinions are great to share, even when they conflict with film experts. I agree the film is boldly unique, but it didn't quite hit me as emotionally as I'd have liked.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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