Certified Copy

I saw this movie six weeks ago and I still can't get it out of my head. It is that good. Think Before Sunrise meets Memento and you kind of either get what I'm saying or I've just pitched a fake movie a la The Player.

Juliette Binoche is a French antique store owner in a village in Tuscany who falls for a visiting British academic. He is in town promoting his book about his theory that it doesn't matter if a piece of art is the real or a copy if it has the same emotional impact on the viewer.

There's a lot of beautiful countryside. There's a lot of fascinating conversations while in a car. There's so much intrigue going on between the two. And then halfway through the movie, things shift. A lot. To the point, that it is hard to say which half of the film is the original and which is the copy.

It is amazing that such a seemingly realistic film about a couple turns into such an intriguing mystery about the true nature of their relationship. I don't want to give away too much more other than to say that I need to see this again to try to pick up the clues to figure out what was really going on. In fact, a co-worker saw the film after I did and her take on the story was the exact opposite of mine.

This is the first Kiarostami film I've seen in years other than re-watching Taste of Cherry last year. But this film (his first one made in Europe) fits in perfectly with the themes and tone of the others of his I've seen. This is a great film.

Directed by Abbas Kiarostami
2010, U.S. Release: 2011
IFC Center