Close-Up

To think something like this could ever swell me up was something I’d never thought of until today, and Kiarostami has rekindled my love for cinema with this one.  You have got to applaud Abbas Kiarostami for being the opportunist he was to identify the potential in this beautiful story as it lay waiting to be unfurled, and lucky him to have found the golden opportunity to document some of the most important sequences of this true story-based docufiction. It was one thing to have documented it but it’s another thing to have re-enacted the rest of it with literally everyone playing themselves in the film. And being non-actors, I must say they did remarkably well.  Hossein Sabzian’s confession and story throughout the film is incredibly compelling yet subtle, because it’s born out of the tragedy of penury. Yet his love and passion for cinema is so strong, it holds you and transfixes you and if you’re passionate about films, you’ll find yourself relating to what Sabzian says. Close-Up also has a beautiful ending that I truly liked, despite the technical problem they faced.  I love films when they’re about films or about the love for films, and this Kiarostami magnum opus gets added to that list. This is a must watch for all cinema fiends out there.