Certified Copy [DVD]

As the film begins, writer James Miller (William Shimell) is giving a talk about his new book, entitled Certified Copy. He writes about art, in terms of original works and those which are reproductions. Juliette Binoche plays a French gallery owner looking for original works of art and comes in just as he's about to start.

She finds him attractive so buys 6 copies of the book, even though she doesn't really like it - but she wants to get them signed so she can meet him again and they spend the day together, go out for lunch and have a look around Tuscany.

The conversation turns very weird around 55 minutes in after they are mistaken for a married couple and she suggests the keep up the pretence to, and around, anyone they meet. That's it, basically. That's all they do. None of this makes any sense. They've met on a particular day - she fancies him, he clearly has a thing for her. They've only got one day together before he's got to get a train and no doubt hawk his book elsewhere, so why do they suddenly get off on being dicks around each other. And to make matters worse, from then on they keep jumping between French, Italian and English even though, up until that moment, James has always spoken in English.

However, while films of two people talking *can* be of interest - and I found that at the end of last year in Room in Rome (and that wasn't just because the two women in it spent most of the time in the buff) - this one isn't, particularly. In fact, this is definitely the worst film I've seen in 2011... although it's early days, literally.

It's only worth 1/10 for the presence of Ms Binoche, but she and her co-star have zero chemistry between them. Oh, and I liked that fact that there are quite a few one-take shots, making it feel more like a play. Over 1000 people helped give this film 7.3/10. They're all mad!

Presented in the original 1.85:1 theatrical ratio and in 1080p high definition, the picture is sharp and detailed where it counts with no particular problems, but at the same time, the Tuscany location just looks... okay. There's nothing stunning about the image. For the record, I'm watching on a Panasonic 37" Plasma screen via a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.

As for the sound, this is in DTS 5.1, but it's all dialogue and has no faults with that.

As for the extras, if you did enjoy this film then you'll be pleased to learn that the Making Of Certified Copy (52:02) runs for almost an hour and begins by director Abbas Kiarostami telling how he came to put the film together including meeting Juliette Binoche and tailoring the role to fit her. Chat from other crew members, plus Juliette Binoche and William Shimell, is shown inbetween work-in-progress filming. Sadly, for such a long piece of supplemental material, there are no chapters.

The only other extra is a Trailer (1:59) in anamorphic 1.85:1.

The menu mixes the sound of Tuscan church bells chiming with a picture of Juliette Binoche against an ever-changing colourful background, with her in the same pose as the cover artwork. There are subtitles in English only, and for a film which has a mixture of French, Italian and English language in it, I find it odd that they disappear when English is spoken. Sure, we don't NEED any English to be translated, but the whole point of subtitles is that they're there for the entire duration of the film.

Film: 1/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Extras: 2/10

Kiarostami's first film in Europe unravels the shifting ambiguities in the relationship between its two main characters, played by Juliette Binoche and William Shimell. What might on the face of it appear to be a pedestrian, predictable, and frankly middle-aged character piece turns out to be a nuanced and absorbing reflection on our self perception and its interplay with those closest to us.

Though little actually takes place in the film, the scenes which follow their conversations over the course of an afternoon are kept taut by the masterful script and its interpretation at the hands of Binoche and Shimell. Dramatic tension is maintained throughout by the uncertain status of the relationship. Are they married? Divorced? Or meeting the first time? Different scenarios seem more plausible at different points in the film, but this mammoth ambiguity is toyed with so subtly that ultimately you enter into a blissful interzone of sublime illogic reminiscent of Lynch's better work.

Inviting the audience to question the characters in this way causes us to examine every inflection, every gesture, just as Binoche and Shimell themselves are trying to interpret the reactions and intentions of the other. Which in turn draws attention to the quality of the acting. Binoche is astounding as the busy middle-class mother - it's certain that she identifies very strongly with the character and she really carries the film while the more aloof and fallible Shimell keeps his distance. Only during one scene does the acting look a bit ropey, as Shimell has an entirely unconvincing fit of anger in a restaurant (this is his first film role, he's actually an opera singer by profession), but this is soon swept out of mind by further developments, including an endearing cameo by Luis Buñuel's cowriter, Jean-Claude Carrière.

On the whole, a very intelligent and engaging piece that, while not quite a career-defining moment like Close Up [2007] [DVD], shows that Kiarostami can work his curious magic wherever he takes his camera.

Reading through the reviews here on Amazon shows that "Certified Copy" has divided opinion very sharply. Apart from the people who couldn't see it through to the end (it's very naughty to lodge a review if you couldn't do that and I know Sam Goldwyn said his butt started to hurt when a movie got too long but that's no excuse!) there is a very wide divergence and that feature alone suggests this is a complex movie whose meaning can remain difficult to grasp.

In fact this film yields up its many themes very subtly and slowly. Indeed it is one of those pictures that stays with you long after it has finished. For what it's worth I think "Certifed Copy" is at one level at least a ghost story. It's quite possible to believe that only one of the main characters is "real". I shall say no more but merely encourage anyone interested in film to try it. Strongly recommended.