Certified Copy | Review

With Certified Copy, Abbas Kiarostami recalls Eric Rohmer, particularly films like The Tree, The Mayor and the Mediatheque and My Night at Maud’s. In his first film outside his own borders, the filmmaker goes even further away from classical narrative structure with the only conflict being one that develops later, and manifests itself as more of a surrealist or existential dilemma for the audience. The structure of the film is simply Juliette Binoche and William Shimell (actually an accomplished opera singer in his first film role) traveling through a regular day together debating different issues of life and morality. Unlike Rohmer, there is not one central topic, but they cover many, and the focus becomes less on the content of the discussions and more on what these interactions say about the nature of their relationship. A tight script combined with fantastic performances brought out by Kiarostami collaborating with two actors who have dynamic chemistry makes Certified CopyCertified Copy of something false.

Kiarostami is a very self-aware filmmaker, for he paces this exquisitely. The banter and back and forth between the two actors engages us effectively for the first act or so of the film, but then the audience starts to wonder is the entire movie just watching them argue? Just when we might otherwise tune out, Kiarostami very subtly knocks things off kilter a bit and causes us to question what is really going on. The rest of the film continues with a similar dynamic of the first section, however, now we’re dissecting their words in effort to decipher further meaning and hints as to who these people really are to one another.

Such becomes the very and engaging exercise of the third act and dénouement of Certified Copy. This is by no means any kind of crowning career achievement for an already accomplished filmmaker such as Kiarostami, however, it’s a very fun idea for a movie—both for the audience to watch and assumedly Kiarostami and company to make. Even if one does not care for the intellectual puzzle solving that is required to get the full experience, fans of Binoche are going to love watching her, and they get a whole lot of her. This is all Binoche’s and Shimell’s show and the filmmaker handsomely frames them in such a manner that there is very little space for anyone else. There’s nothing wrong with that, as the formula they have created in this wholly original film is well worth every minute.

Rating 4 stars