SummaryThis fiction-documentary hybrid uses a real-life sensational event - a young man arrested on charges that he fraudulently impersonated well-known filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf - as the basis for a stunning, multi-layered investigation into movies, identity, artistic creation, and life itself. With its universal themes and fascinating narrative knot... Read More
Directed By:Abbas Kiarostami
Written By:Abbas Kiarostami
Close-Up
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
92
User score
Universal Acclaim
9.1
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
92
100% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
It's enormously intelligent stuff, witty, poignant and thoroughly engrossing, and ends with one of the sharpest, funniest deconstructions of film form ever shot. Absolutely wonderful.
100
A dense and subtle masterpiece.
100
From the outset, the director lets us know that this won’t be some sensationalistic crime story. Close-Up is more about the power of images, and how what’s on the screen at any given moment can hold our attention completely, even if it has nothing to do with “the story.”
90
Close-Up is two films in one, a hugely skilful work of cinematic origami about doubles and doubling.
90
It is Mr. Sabzian's poignancy that makes "Close-Up" much more than a clever reflection on film-versus-life as an endless hall of mirrors.
75
"There's nothing about this place worth filming," insists one character, but Kiarostami always comes up with something: a Tati-like scene in which a canister rolls down a street, all but waiting to be kicked, and several exotic glimpses of urban life, including a turkey salesman who carries a couple of unplucked birds through the Tehran streets. [26 Feb 1999]
75
If Close-Up is not much to look at, it certainly enthralls the mind. [09 Feb 1996, p.16G]
User score
Universal Acclaim
9.1
94% Positive
32 Ratings
32 Ratings
6% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Jan 21, 2013
7
Really enjoyed this film. This is my second Kiarostami film and what strikes me most about his movies is the way he weaves intrigue into very simple plots and dialogue. The intrigue in Close Up is far and away the strength of this film. The visuals and acting are not particular strong or weak, so Kiarostami keeps your interest by never giving you too much of the story at once, but by giving you small bites that eventually lead up to a pretty satisfying whole.
Production Company:
- Kanoon Parvaresh Fekri
Release Date:Dec 31, 1999
Duration:1 h 38 m
Tagline:A Real Life Situation Based On A Real Incident In Actual Locations With Actual People Involved
Awards
Cahiers du Cinéma
• 2 Nominations
Montréal Festival of New Cinema
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Istanbul Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
