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| Abbas Kiarostami |
Films are a lot of different things to different people. They can be sources of entertainment, mirrors of society, or
even keepers of history. But for some, they are a source of obsession and a sort of identity to adopt as they evoke the need to live in that film world that the art
depicts.
This is exactly the case in Close-Up (1990), Iranian
director Abbas Kiarostami’s wonderful metafilm that looks at the true story
of unemployed film lover Hossein Sabzian’s attempt at passing off as his idol,
director Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
The film uses aspects of documentary and drama to reconstruct Sabzian’s story partly using flashbacks. The
people who were involved in the real incident appear as themselves and the scenes in the court are the real footage filmed by the director from the trial
that took place after Sabzian's arrest.
The storyline in Close-Up develops simply enough to show
and help us understand the problem of human identity as impersonated by Hossein
Sabzian.
Sabzian is a film enthusiast and fan of Makhmalbaf. While in a
bus reading a book called The Cyclist one day, he meets Mrs
Ahankhah, a fan of the piece of literature and its film adaptation, both by
Makhmalbaf. Now pretending to be the famous director, Sabzian visits the Ahankhah family
many times over the following weeks.
He tells them he wants to use their house for his next film and
that their sons will be actors in it. Sabzian goes to the extent of obtaining money from Mehrdad
Ahankhah, one of the sons, “to prepare for the film”. But Mr Ahankhah is doubtful about Sabzian being Makhmalbaf. A
magazine photo shows a filmmaker who is younger than the one in his house and
who has darker hair. He invites Hossain Farazmand, a journalist friend, to check if
Sabzian is a fake. This turns out to be the case. Police arrest the fraudster
as Farazmand covers the event for his publication.
These re-enactments are mixed with scenes from events of
Kiarostami’s filming of the actual Sabzian trial and are in nonlinear narrative
format. The dialogue, in Persian, is part of what makes this film by
Abbas Kiarostami, who has directed such classics as Palme d'Or-winner
The Taste of Cherry and Palme d'Or-nominee Ten, an exciting film.
It is involving for the characters and it plays a very important
role for viewers because as much as it makes Close-Up a somewhat
predictable story, it helps provide a background and a guide to what follows. The opening scene in the taxi is the perfect example. From here,
we can’t help but enjoy the engaging conversation between the journalist Farazmand and the driver Hooshang Shamaei that ranges from where they
are going to why they are heading there and Iranian culture. On the viewer’s
end, we anticipate what will come up.
Abbas Kiarostami, a notable figure of the 1960’s Iranian New
Wave – innovative art films with political, philosophical and poetic tones – has a distinct and pleasing style to his approach in Close-Up. Cinematographer Ali Reza Zarrindast’s shot of an insecticide can
rolling down the street for what seems to be an eternity can be appreciated as
part of the film’s childlike sense of wonder.
Moreover, we don’t see Makhmalbaf’s face when he converses with
police, officials and the conned family. His head is the camera’s point of view
– another standout feature of Close-Up.
The acting, particularly by Sabzian, is fantastic. He is so real
and so relaxed. You can barely tell any difference between his re-enactment and
his recording in the documentary-within-the film.
That Kiarostami intentionally doesn’t want to make Close-Up
a perfect film – incorporating footage that has shaky, hand-held camerawork,
and poor audio from his documentary – makes this an amazing production in
itself. Close-Up is a splendid show of the power film has over
individuals.
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