Close-Up (1990 film)

Close-Up

DVD cover
کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami
Produced by Ali Reza Zarrin
Written by Abbas Kiarostami
Starring Hossain Sabzian
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Cinematography Ali Reza Zarrindast
Edited by Abbas Kiarostami
Production
company
Distributed by Celluloid Dreams
Release dates
 1990
Running time
 98 min.
Country Iran
Language Persian

Close-Up (Persian: کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک‎‎, Klūzāp, nemā-ye nazdīk) is a 1990 Iranian docufiction written, directed and edited by Abbas Kiarostami. The film tells the story of the real-life trial of a man who impersonated film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film. It features the people involved, acting as themselves. A film about human identity, it helped to increase recognition of Kiarostami in the West.

Many critics consider Close-Up a masterpiece of world cinema; in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll, it was voted by critics onto "The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time" list.[1]

Plot

Hossain Sabzian is a cinephile, and in particular a big fan of popular Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. One day, Sabzian is riding a bus with a copy of the novel The Cyclist; Mrs. Ahankhah sits next to him, revealing she is a fan of the novel's film adaptation. Sabzian tells her that he himself is Makhmalbaf, the maker. She is then surprised that a famous director would ride public transportation; Sabzian explains in response (posing as Makhmalbaf) that he finds his film subjects this way, telling her that art must spring from life. Posing as Makhmalbaf from this point on, Sabzian visits the Ahankhah family several times over the next two weeks. He flatters them by saying he wants to use not only their house in his next film, but also their sons as actors in it. He even obtains a substantial amount of money from them (ostensibly to prepare for the film). Mr. Ahankhah has his suspicions, however, especially when a magazine photo shows a younger Makhmalbaf with darker hair than that of Sabzian. He invites a journalist (Hossain Farazmand) over, who confirms Sabzian is indeed an impostor. The police come to arrest Sabzian, while Farazmand takes several pictures for his upcoming article: "Bogus Makhmalbaf Arrested." Kiarostami intersperses these scenes throughout the film, in which the events described above do not progress chronologically; they are re-enactments.

Cast

Production

Close-Up is based on real events that occurred in Northern Tehran in the late 1980s. Kiarostami first heard about Sabzian in 1989 after reading about the incident in an article in the Iranian magazine Sorush by journalist Hassan Farazmand. Kiarostami immediately suspended work on the film project that he was in pre-production of and began making a documentary on Sabzian. Kiarostami was allowed to film Sabzian's trial and also got Sabzian, the Ahankhahs and Farazmand to agree to participate in the film and to re-enact incidents from the past. Kiarostami also arranged for Mohsen Makhmalbaf to meet Sabzian and help facilitate forgiveness between Sabzian and the Ahankhahs.[2]

Critical reception

Close-Up was named the best Iranian film ever made in the Iranian magazine Film International. It is also ranked #43 in the British Film Institute's critics' poll of the 50 best films ever made. New York Times film critic Stephen Holden called the film "brilliant," noting its "radically drab cinema-verite style that helps blur any difference between what is real and what is reconstructed."[3] Los Angeles Times critic Dennis Lim called the film eloquent and direct and that it provided "a window into the psyche of a complicated man and into the social and cultural reality of Iran."[4]

Influence

Five years after Close-Up, Moslem Mansouri and Mahmoud Chokrollahi wrote and directed the documentary Close-Up Long Shot (Persian: کلوزآپ نمای دور ‎‎, Klūzāp nemā-ye dūr) in which Sabzian talks about his infatuation with cinema, his impersonation of Makhmalbaf and how his life has changed after working with Kiarostami. The film premiered at Turin's 14° Festival internazionale cinema giovani in November 1996 where it won the FIPRESCI Prize – Special Mention.[5][6]

Nanni Moretti's 1996 Italian short film Opening Day of Close-Up follows a theater owner as he prepares to show Kiarostami's film at his independent cinema.

Marcus Söderlund's 2007 music video for Swedish duo The Tough Alliance's "A New Chance" pays homage to Kiarostami's film with an almost shot-for-shot reproduction of a scene following two characters on a motorcycle.[7][8]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "Close-up: Prison and Escape". www.criterion.com. June 22, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  3. ↑ Holden, Stephen, "Close Up (1990) FILM REVIEW; The Pathos Of Deceit By a Victim Of Longing." The New York Times, December 31, 1999, Accessed on November 17, 2012.
  4. ↑ Lim, Dennis, "A Second Look: Abbas Kiarostami's 'Close-Up'." The Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2010, Accessed on November 17, 2012.
  5. ↑ http://www.arsenal-berlin.de/forumarchiv/forum97/f011e.html
  6. ↑ http://www.torinofilmfest.org/?action=detail&id=1389
  7. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoV6xfgCkcM
  8. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai21IrRlpCk

Bibliography

External links

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