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Close-Up [VHS]

Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Actor), Hossain Sabzian (Actor), Abbas Kiarostami (Director) | Rated: Universal, suitable for all | Format: VHS Tape
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Hossain Sabzian, Abolfazl Ahankhah, Mehrdad Ahankhah, Monoochehr Ahankhah
  • Directors: Abbas Kiarostami
  • Writers: Abbas Kiarostami
  • Producers: Ali Reza Zarrin
  • Language: English
  • Classification: U
  • Studio: Bfi
  • VHS Release Date: 8 Jun 1998
  • Run Time: 94 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004CWIZ
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 223,832 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

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Product Description

Product Description

Documentary and fiction become confused in this true tale of unemployed movie freak Hossein Sabzian, who finds himself imprisoned after being mistaken for the famous director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Sabzian's trial is then filmed by Abbas Kiarostami (the actual director of 'Close-Up').

Review

A complex and witty deconstruction of film form, playing with the notions of drama and documentary, reality and fiction. --The Guardian
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Customer Reviews

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4.8 out of 5 stars
4 reviews
4.8 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A desire to be embraced 7 Feb 2004
By Emerson
Format:DVD
Kiarostami captures the deep desire to simply be accepted, of a down trodden man who takes recourse to pretending to be a famous film-maker to achieve, albeit for a few days, a sense of being embraced by society.
Tehran is the backdrop, with the social dvisions resulting in pain that goes beyond the material, almost Dickensian.
As is typical of Kiarostami's films, the majority of the roles are played by non-actors, in this case by the actual persons involved in the true life tale . From the family that our pretend filmaker tries to con, to the real filmaker in person, Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
A touching journey of desire, fabrication and remorse.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Kiarostami reminds us of humanity 2 Sep 2002
By "sinofile"
Format:VHS Tape
kiarostami captures undisputedly the essence of man's existence in this life. we spend so much of our lives competing against each other for material gains that we lose ourselves. what must remain is humanity. initially the story takes a while to grasp. because it is shot in part/dramatisation part/documentary the story takes on a realness but also a staged performance. anyway kiarostami captures the spirit of human kindness and understanding. forgiving the human capability to make mistakes from our relation to society. touching from beginning to end in a most unsentimental & unpretentious way.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Close Up 7 April 2008
By René Daumal
Format:DVD
Kiarostami's Close Up lingers between documentary, pseudo-documentary and reenactment of an extraordinary real life case of a man impersonating a famous Iranian director to win the respect of a middle class family.

Doubtless a remarkable achievement, Close Up should nevertheless be placed on the 'challenging' rather than 'entertaining' pile. The short but waffling analysis given by Geoff Andrew is telling for its quote of Godard: 'Film began with D. W. Griffiths and ended with Abbas Kiarostami.' - much of the appeal is academic, and without learning a lot about the film beforehand you may find it does not live up to the superlative criticism on the cover.

Thankfully, Kiarostami's bookish inversion of cinematic conventions never degenerates to Godard's often irritating oeuvre which (in my opinion) relentlessly deconstructs the medium whilst rarely producing good films-in-themselves. This is mainly because there is so much humanity in the film - by using real documentary footage and reconstructions of key events (using the real people playing themselves) we feel a bizarrely intimate knowledge of each of the main characters which would be lost in a straight documentary. But at the same time each of the characters ARE acting and concealing something to save face - perhaps it is this ambiguity of human relationships which is so intriguing.

The DVD itself is nicely packaged, the transfer is clean, and the subtitles sufficient. Moretti's short is an added bonus (since it led me to the film in the first place).
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