Close-Up

A dense and subtle masterpiece. Read full review

Does Close-Up reveal the truth? I’d prefer to say it reveals the beauty of distortion. Read full review

Close-Up is perhaps the emblematic work of the so-called Iranian New Wave, summing up its methods and preoccupations and also bringing together two of its key figures, Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Read full review

If Close-Up is not much to look at, it certainly enthralls the mind. [09 Feb 1996, p.16G]

For all its wit and intricacy, the film is often ponderous. [31 Dec 1999, p.038]

There aren't many works of art out there that so rupture your sense of the familiar. It may play slowly, but it blazes its way into your head. [14 Jul 2000]

Call it what you will (documentary, mockumentary, self-fulfilling prophecy), Close-Up is still the definitive film-on-film commentary. Read full review

From the outset, the director lets us know that this won’t be some sensationalistic crime story. Close-Up is more about the power of images, and how what’s on the screen at any given moment can hold our attention completely, even if it has nothing to do with “the story.” Read full review

Close-Up is two films in one, a hugely skilful work of cinematic origami about doubles and doubling.

It is Mr. Sabzian's poignancy that makes "Close-Up" much more than a clever reflection on film-versus-life as an endless hall of mirrors. Read full review

In Kiarostami’s furiously clear view, religious dogma suppresses the eye’s observations through the dictate of the word; his calmly unwavering images, with their wry humor and generous sympathy, have the force of a steadfast resistance. Read full review

"There's nothing about this place worth filming," insists one character, but Kiarostami always comes up with something: a Tati-like scene in which a canister rolls down a street, all but waiting to be kicked, and several exotic glimpses of urban life, including a turkey salesman who carries a couple of unplucked birds through the Tehran streets. [26 Feb 1999]

The meanings of Close-Up shift, subtly and profoundly, with every viewing; the only certainty is that its rewards are boundless. Read full review

It's enormously intelligent stuff, witty, poignant and thoroughly engrossing, and ends with one of the sharpest, funniest deconstructions of film form ever shot. Absolutely wonderful. Read full review

Like nearly every other Kiarostami film, Close-Up takes questions about movies and makes them feel like questions of life and death. Read full review