Close-Up (1990)

Original title: Close-Up

IMDb

The actual events:
Some guy on a bus introduces himself to a woman as a famous director—he claimed to be Mohsen Makhmalbaf—and she actually fell for it. He ends up at her place, tells her family the exact same story, claims he's going to shoot a movie in their house, and starts asking for money. And they gave it to him. Eventually, they realized they were being played, called the cops, and the guy ended up in court.

Kiarostami (the director of the film I'm talking about) heard about this whole mess and decided to turn it into a movie.

The lead actor in the film is actually the same man who was facing charges in real life.

What makes it even more incredible is that Kiarostami incorporates actual footage from the trial into the film, and the "actors" playing the defrauded family members are actually the real people involved!

A perfect film.

Anyone else seen it?

This is such a cool example of docufiction... I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it before, which makes it feel totally unique!

From what I’ve been reading, Kiarostami actually filmed the trial itself, while all those other bits about the case were reconstructed using the actual people involved.

I just love how composed the whole process feels... and man, seeing that Sight & Sound ranked him in their top 50 greatest films of all time back in 2012? That's huge! Personally, I find Taste of Cherry a bit more moving, but this is still only my second Kiarostami film...

First off, I suppose it’s only fair that I waited "only" eleven years for someone to finally contribute something to this thread.

I can't quite put into words how relieved I am to find out I wasn't the only one who sat through this.

It is truly fascinating to realize that, despite being filmed thirty years ago, there still isn't a superior documentary out there.

Kiarostami is a genius, plain and simple.

So, I’m just now really getting into Kiarostami... I actually went looking to see if there was much about him on the forum at all. Turns out there is! Mostly just scattered mentions in general threads or stuff about American cinema history.

Man, is there even a better documentary out there? Honestly, I can't think of many other times where you see actual real-life people agreeing to basically reenact scenes from their own lives like this. It's wild.

I mean, courtroom recreations of crimes aren't exactly a new thing—anyone who’s ever sat through one of those true crime specials knows they feel pretty similar to this.

But here's the part that really hooked me after I did some reading later... Kiarostami almost uses the movie to bridge the gap between the characters. It's like he nudges the cheated family to finally understand Sabzian and find it in their hearts to forgive him. Plus, it gives the main guy a chance to meet director Makhmalbaf, whose identity he used when introducing himself to the family in the first place!

An unexpected happy ending, though in reality 😁

Gonna catch the game tonight—I'll let you know what I think!