Matinee: Certified Copy @ The Flicks 1 + 2

(106 mins, drama)

Winner of the Cannes Film Festival, Best Actress

James Miller has just written a book on the value of a copy versus the original work of art. At a book reading, a woman gives him her address, and the next day they meet and take a country-side drive to a local Italian village. Here, they discuss various works of art found in the town, and also the nature of their relationship – which gets both more revealed and concealed as the day progresses.

Certified Copy is at first sight a romantic drama set on a single day in a small Tuscan village. A beautiful, if typical European art-house picture, but in fact it has something much more significant to offer.
The Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami skillfully weaves his tale around these two characters while examining his central theme that nothing is really original and that we all assume roles in our lives. This is a recall of the themes he masterfully examined in Close Up.

To really ‘get’ the film one must fully engage in their discussion of some abstract and philosophical themes and in that respect the film may be more enjoyable in retrospect or on second viewing (you need to see it again!). However, for those who submit to it, it’s a rich and rewarding cinematic diversion from the Iranian master of illusion.