Close-Up

FAVOURITE MOVIES LIST By now, the excuse of using film art to challenge reality has become so widespread that it might feel overdone (Coughs: Mother! , The Neon Demon) . But Close-Up manages to stand tall because it doesn’t attempt to preach, its genius lies in the tragi-comic feel of a poor working man who cannot resist disguising himself because it brings him nobility and respect. The film can appear a bit too elusive initially but the humanism developed over time is abundant. No matter if the art uplifts or frustrates us, makes reality more visible or provides a shelter from that very reality, in the end, it brings us together. I still remember how emotionaly harrowed i felt when i read about how it was all staged, i mean even the court room scenes, even the intimate ending and the fake mic mess up scene in the end, how i’d been tricked into loving this guy, a 2nd version of himself, sympathising with him to the utmost extent and almost agreeing to forget the actual man, the man behind the performance, i could almost see my image in him. Close-up has changed my perspective on acting, on the power of a filmmaker, his responsibilities and the stories they choose to tell. It gives me chills everytime i think of how Abbas Kiarostami took a story so personal to his own craft, one involving a fellow who idolised him and other iranian filmmakers, how he took to his heart that this story on the hands of a journalist was not enough, it needed another dimension, so he took the matter in his own hands to film the beauty that was unfolding, Kiarostami said in an interview, “I've often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us, unless it's inside a frame.”, i think this describes Close-up and Kiarostami’s other works better than i ever could. All of these fleeting thoughts that come to my mind are shattered in a second when i am again reminded of the truth, and my respect for close-up increases a little more each time this happens. Iranian cinema is a treasure but their’s just so much to experience and so little time...