Close-Up

"-Is there anything I can do for you?""-You can make a film about my suffering." Close-Up is a film that is impossible to describe. There is no fine line between what is real and what is manufactured. There is a story, but is it the real one or one made up for the movies? There are actors but are they actually the real people or just playing the part? The only presence that is assured is that of a director, but even this aspect is fragmented between reality and fiction. Who is to say that Sabzian is fake and Kiarostami is real? Both of them played a part, but it is up to you to determine which one deserves a close-up. Close-Up is one of one*. It is an indescribable film, you can approach a synopsis of the masquerade Kiarostami reconstructed but it will only approximate a passing form of what was captured. Kiarostami lamented upon its initial release in Iran that "nobody viewed it correctly," and in his own words describes the film as thus. "It's not even about Makhmalbaf but about one individual, and about the daydreams of a man when life becomes hard. It's in praise of daydreaming. It's not even about Sabzian really, since, before the film, he was no one. It's about a human being and his dreams." he continues, "It's about when life gets hard and the daydreams become more intense. We know everything about our five senses, but we never think about our dreams. There was a time when I thought if I were asked to choose between my eyesight and the ability to dream, I'd choose dreams because, even without your eyes, you can live a better life with the help of your dreams. Without dreams, how can one live?...With the help of dreams, we can escape the worst prisons. Actually only the body can be imprisoned--in dreams you can escape the walls...I think God gave human beings this possibility to apologize for all their limitations." *Calling Close-Up truly one of one is antithetical to what Kiarostami is saying with his film, life is film and film is life but if you are looking for any films similar I can try to help. Ironically the one film I can think of that truly encapsulates the same form and function is one my Makhmalbaf himself, A Moment of Innocence left me in the same state of awe that Close-Up did and it uses very similar techniques to do so. Additionally, Hong Sang-soo's style feels like the closest contemporary comparison. There are surely more that I cannot think of or have yet to see and I hope to be able to see them one day.