|
Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
CERTIFIED COPY
A consummate pro, and a proven film literate meta-thinker, Kiarostami is probably mostly interested in how this story is told. In the same way that his sharp-minded protagonists construct their winding conversations, each scene is a tangential discussion that becomes lucid just at the end—first they discuss art, its reproduction, and the inherent value of its facsimile. Later they take on marriage, its development, and, in this case, the value of its potential facsimile. Likewise, we are often distracted by Kiarostami’s opaque style until, after a moment of surprise, a sequence suddenly makes perfect sense. Certified Copy is also more concerned with discussion than with message. Kiarostami leaves politics at home in Iran and finally lands in a more fitting intellectual environment. It suits him. Like Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (1995), this is a heady and talky film that directs a lot of material back at the viewer and requires a sharp, emotionally engaged audience. It’s a subtle piece, and to disengage is to miss a lot of what the film is about. The biggest stumble is perhaps in Shimell’s difficult-to-read depiction. A noted opera singer in England, there’s no doubt he’s a talented performer, but in this case I could have used more indication from him—not something one typically wishes from an actor. His character is a man who doesn’t hide how he feels nor is he someone with a hidden agenda. I was consistently puzzled at what Miller intended to get out of the excursion, and was forced to concentrate instead on Binoche’s incredible work and Kiarostami’s deliberate design. Not to
mention, there are a hundred beautiful little moments throughout
Certified Copy. It’s set in Tuscany, stars Juliette Binoche, and
it’s about marriage. Giusto? Watch for a lovely bit in which a
French tourist advises Miller on how to keep his wife happy, suggesting
he simply place his hand on her back once in a while. The reluctant
Miller sneaks a pat on his way out of the square and nearly makes us
forget that the whole thing is supposed to be an act. Certified Copy,
though, is no act. It’s the real thing.
Michael Lee
|
Abbas Kiarostami makes
a sophisticated, complete, and intellectually fascinating film out of
what would otherwise be a funny little anecdote. A
French woman (Juliette Binoche) living in Italy attends a lecture given by the English
writer James Miller (William Shimell) and takes an interest in him.
After she meets him, Miller requests that they visit the Tuscan countryside
before he returns to England. On their journey through an idyllic,
provincial hamlet, the two find themselves in deep intellectual
discussion, and after a waitress mistakes them for a married couple,
they actually
start pretending to be husband and wife. Magically, in so doing, they
are able to air the respective anxieties in their lives without the
usual pressures of a relationship.