For Sam:Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
My apologies for the late review. Certified Copy has been on my watchlist for years, and I'm glad Sam has given me the opportunity to finally catch up with it. The film begins with a British writer (William Shimell) speaking about his book, Certified Copy, to a group of people in Tuscany. In his book he argues the authenticity in works of art doesn't necessarily matter as the forgery in itself is its own work of art. In the audience is a woman (Juliette Binoche), she is distracted by her son, but she wants to meet up with the author, so she leaves her number with the host. The author meets the woman at her shop, and she proceeds to take him around Tuscany to various locations, a gallery, a coffee shop, a restaurant, a hotel. I saw A Taste of Cherry earlier this year, and there are definitely similarities, the conversations while driving, the ambiguity, the cryptic nature of the the purpose of the interaction. I was also reminded of both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset/Midnight (at different times during the film). This meandering conversational nature of the film. They stop at a cafe and the writer takes a call outside and the woman proceeds to have a conversation with the shop employee. It's here where the film shifts.
The shop employee thinks they are married, and the woman doesn't correct her, then the rest of the film the two leads talk and act as if they have been married for 15 years. What are we to believe? The first half of the film or the second half? Does it matter? Kiarostami presents both halves that have clues that could lead us to decide that either half could be the "authentic" version of this relationship. It's very thought provoking, it languid, it's painful, it's sad, it's familiar, it's hopeful, it's hopeless, it's beautiful. This film has stuck with me since my viewing a few days ago. I definitely want to go back and rewatch, especially the first half again, to see if I notice anything that I didn't the first time. Thank you, Sam, for finally giving me a change to watch this film.