Abbas Kiarostami, Close-up, 1990
I can see what Mr Godard was on about when he said "cinema ends with Abbas Kiarostami" (or words to that effect): based on the true story of Hossain Sabzian, a well-meaning but slightly disturbed film buff who impersonated director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and befriended a family under the pretext of using them in a forthcoming film and who was subsequently arrested and charged with fraud, and starring not only the real people who were involved in the story, but also Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Kiarostami themselves, it's absolutely fascinating from beginning to end. Even more so when one learns that some of the lines spoken in Sabzian's trial were in fact scripted by the director.. the spectator is constantly led to question what s/he's watching, trying to decide what's "real" and what's "cinema" in an intriguing game of mirrors that Kiarostami plays right to final moments, perversely editing out snippets of Makhmalbaf's discussion with Sabzian riding behind him on a motorbike through Tehran traffic. Great film.
Quite agree with Jon on Meaning of Life (I do like "Every Sperm is Sacred" though), but less so on Brian, which we watched recently and I found to have aged rather well. They nail today's ridiculous 31-gender PC stupidity very nicely. ("Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the right to have babies"...)
