Lee Eisenberg Abbas Kiarostami died a few months ago, so I decided that I would watch this movie of his. "Nemā-ye nazdīk" ("Close-Up" in English) is based on the story of a man who pretended to be filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and the subsequent trial. The movie tests your attention span with its long scenes and emphasis on dialog.I hadn't known of the story until I watched the movie. Kiarostami's movies often look at people striving towards goals (the only other one that I've seen is "Taste of Cherry"). But beyond the story, the movie functions as a look at this turning point in Iran's history. They had just come out of the eight-year-long war with Iraq - when the US, UK, Israel and USSR had armed Saddam Hussein against the revolutionary government - and Ayatollah Khomeini had just died. Iran remained a mostly isolated state for years afterwards until the US overthrow of Saddam Hussein allowed the Islamic Republic to have a stronger hand in the region.Anyway, the movie is worth seeing. Both Kiarostami and Mokhmalbaf play themselves in it. Too bad that we won't see any more Kiarostami movies. This year took him, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Prince, Muhammad Ali, Gene Wilder, Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell and Lupita Tovar. That and the ascendance to the US presidency of an unhinged demagogue make 2016 one crummy year.

Ricc0 The plot is quite simple.. Hussein Sabzian a cinephile, impersonates his favorite director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and enters the house of a well-to-do family convincing them that they would star in his next movie. After few meetings the family suspect that he is an impostor and inform the police. The film's opening scene starts here where a journalist is escorting two policemen to arrest Sabzian. Then the trial of Sabzian begins.The film is based on a true story and this is rather the case in many movies. But what makes this movie so special is that its director Kiarostami intervened in the actual trial of Sabzian! When Kiarostami heard about Sabzian's case he put his next project on hold and started preparing for a documentary on Sabzian.. he visited him in jail and helped move his trial up and acquired from the ministry of justice the permission to shoot it. He (Kiarostami) had the permission also to ask questions through out the trial, demanding Sabzian more than once to talk about certain aspects he found essential. The footage of the actual trial was included as it is in this film.Kiarostami brilliantly then convinced the individuals involved in the story to star in his film that is depicting their case. He made them re-enact some of the past incidents of this story and then arranged a meeting between Sabzian and Makhmalbaf; the director that Sabzian impersonated. Kiarostami shot their meeting from a distance using a sound record machine, following them with his crew while they were riding on Makhmalbaf's motorcycle to the house of the family Sabzian previously conned. Again the shots were included in the movie. The film that is brilliantly executed by Kiarostami can be divided into three parts; re-enacted scenes from the past, the actual trial, and the real meeting between Sabzian and the director Makhmalbaf.The judge tried to convince Kiarostami to find a more interesting story to write about but the famous director found something else in the story of Sabzian and he was right. Kiarostami was able to communicate with us the suffering of a human being.. his quest to find his true identity... his attempt to achieve a dream, to be appreciated or at least recognized as a distinct individual with distinguished characteristics. The story also goes beyond that to talk about poverty and its destructive impact on the individual and on the society. It also sheds the light upon many interesting cultural and social values in Iran. Kiarostami was able to introduce a masterpiece that holds great meanings, memorable scenes, and artistic execution. Even the score was beautiful.. every single aspect.The film got Kiarostami a worldwide recognition and many considered it one of the best movies ever to be made. New York Times film critic Stephen Holden described the film as "brilliant", whereas Los Angeles Times critic Dennis Lim considered it as eloquent and that it represents the psyche of a complicated man alongside the cultural and social realities of Iran. It ranked #43 in the British Film Institute's critics' poll of the 50 best films ever made, and among "The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time" list in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.

Daniel Casanova I think Close-Up is a very well thought film.Abbas Kiarostami makes us doubt about what cinema is, and makes some questions like if cinema is an art restricted to people who have money and means. It makes us think about the true meaning of cinema.We have this poor man who wants to make a movie to expose or transpose the suffering of the simple low-class worker (like himself). He commits the crime of using another known director's identity, lying to an upper-medium class family, just to get some resources for his film. We can see from his statements, later, that he wouldn't want to do any harm to the family. He just saw an easy way out of his daily routine and awareness of not having the money to make something.I feel that a film can be made when there are loads of emotion at stake. It doesn't matter that much what kind of skill or knowledge the director has; Cinema is a vehicle of emotions. Aren't our favourite films the one's who mesh with our background, with our past emotions or with anything related to a moment in our lives? There are moments in the film where we loose the notion of fiction or trueness. We see very grainy shots from the court's room , mostly with a fixed camera pointing at him. They seem really true and honest, like when someone is completely nude. We get to see the real man, and what has driven him to do what he did. The last scene where the actual director gives him a motorcycle ride,it's just so damn beautiful, and the "mea culpa" at the end... well,this is just a magical peace of art.

FilmCriticLalitRao One close look at the history of cinema will tell that some of the great films have been made using everyday events as background.This is done in order to include a certain dose of creativity in scenario.This is also the case of Iranian film Nemaye Nazdik (Close Up) based on a famous incident of impersonation involving great Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf.If we believe that cinema is like magic and its actors and actress are like stars,we must also be ready to face the negative consequences of the so called star status of cinema's luminaries.There are many admirers who do not understand the detrimental consequences of their actions when they try to imitate what is fiction.Close Up talks of one such case involving a poor Iranian man named Ali Sabzian who deceives a lady by stating that he would like to shoot in her house as he is famous Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf.His deceit is exposed and he is imprisoned.All this might appear as a simple tale to layman but in reality "Close Up" is more complex than one can think.It is a film which challenges our notions of cinema and reality,truth or falsehood.As these concepts are subjective in nature,it is better if viewers are left to draw their own conclusions after having seen the film.One of the greatest scenes from "Close Up" shows Ali Sabzian (as he is sobbing uncontrollably) being comforted by great Mohsen Makhmalbaf.This is the most perfect example of how reality meets reality.