Certified Copy

Note that this review is for the film itself, which I saw in theaters (twice); I'm waiting for the Criterion Edition to ship (May 22) before I pick up my own copy.

An author on tour to promote his book has an apparently chance meeting with a French woman (Juliette Binoche), and their encounter proves to be something far more than casual. He proposes in his book that a copy, an imitation, is as good as the genuine article, and while he appears to confine his thesis to works of art, what follows suggests that she may be testing to see how far it extends to life itself. The latest film by celebrated Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami is also his first to be filmed outside of his native country. Starring Juliette Binoche (who took home the best actress award at Cannes for her stunningly enigmatic performance in this film), Certified Copy starts from a premise that promises an exotic love story, and gradually turns into a subtle and profound meditation on art, memory, truth, and identity.

To give a quick sense of the feel of this remarkable film I might suggest it combines the conversational intimacy of Before Sunset and the intellectual intrigue of Last Year at Marienbad. The problem is that comparison makes this seem like a derivative work, that merely copies elements of established works. It's not. Like all of the works I've seen by Abbas Kiarostami, this is a true original. Or if its a copy, it's a genuine copy. It's a fascinating film, that I've seen twice now, and that I look forward to watching again, since I got even more from it the second time. It's a densely layered film, where details refer to other details, and each calls up a range of themes and ideas, but where the intellectual intrigue is balanced by an emotional tension and resonance, and that wears its layers lightly, almost as if it were all improvised. It's both a delightful romance - that might be said to skip the romance, straight to the after of the happily ever after - and a subtle philosophical exploration of a wide range of fascinating themes.

By the way, here's what to expect when the Criterion edition ships:
-a new high-definition digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
-a new interview with director Abbas Kiarostami
-"Let's See Copia conforme," an Italian documentary on the making of Certified Copy, featuring interviews with Kiarostami and actors Juliette Binoche and William Shimell
Trailer
-New English subtitle translation
-PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Godfrey Cheshire

Perhaps you remember the 1995 hit "Before Sunrise," with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, where a couple of young strangers spend an evening together in Vienna, mostly talking about life and relationships?

"Certified Copy" is a similar dialogue-driven film that takes place in a small village in Tuscany during the course of one day. It's the story of a middle-aged art dealer (Binoche) who invites a British author on tour (Shimel) for a day in the countryside. As the two visit the various museums, churches, and trattorias, and as their conversation progresses, we find there's more to the relationship than meets the eye, and from there the plot takes some completely unexpected turns.

Despite what the trailer makes you believe, this is not a romantic movie about seduction; it's an intelligent and philosophical film about how our expectations affect our perspective, about originality and point of view. It's also a daring puzzle of a movie, and it engages you in the game without you even knowing it.

Binoche is radiant in this film, showing emotions with every raised eyebrow, telling entire stories without saying a word. She actually puts a spell on you! And shifting effortlessly between English, French, and Italian, her charismatic persona drives this minimalistic film from one scene to the next.

Like a good piece of art, "Certified Copy" gives you plenty of room to make your own interpretations, and like a good brain game, it will make you think, a lot.

You thought you would be settling down to watch just another love story: distinguished, older English-speaking man meets younger, sexy European woman while on a trip to Italy, and romance follows predictably. Ostensibly, this is the way the movie begins; and you settle in, waiting for the first kiss, and waiting for the love story to unfold. But it does not unfold at all. Things just get strange and more complicated as the movie progresses. James Miller, a deeply cynical and emotionally cold writer, on a visit to Italy to promote his book, meets a charming French woman who wants to show him rural Tuscany, and to revisit the town where they were hastily married fifteen years ago.

There are differing opinions as to what exactly transpires in this film. Certainly it's open to more than one interpretation. One is that James and the woman (Binoche), although initially not married or even acquainted, "take on" the roles of estranged husband and wife. This interpretation seems very unconvincing to me, since there is no motive as to why they should do this, nor why James should treat this charming and attractive woman in such a shabby way, if they were just playing roles. If they are only playing at being husband and wife, then what is the point of the movie?

After viewing the film several times, it seemed clear to me that they had once been lovers, she had gotten pregnant, they had hastily married, then later separated from one another. The film (mostly) hangs together with this interpretation, but not entirely. There is one spot where James asks the woman "Where (or when) did you get married?", as if he has no idea that he is her husband. Also, James has no memory at all of their wedding night, or where they were married. Nor has he much interest in her young son. And he treats this woman like she is nothing to him. How or why does any man turn down the advances of a woman like this? This, it seems to me, is a movie about James and his deep emotional paralysis, more than about the woman or their marriage.

What we thought would be a gentle love story turns out to be a long, sad look at a disintegrating marriage. What we thought was the beginning of a love affair is really its bitter end. We never learn why there is this deep anger and cynicism in James, what devils haunt him, or what his wife has done to deserve his hateful treatment of her. All we know is that James wants nothing more than to get the hell out of Italy by 9 PM. At the end of the movie one may think or hope that James has finally come around, after his venomous outburst at the restaurant. Has he finally decided to forgive his wife, and give her his love again? It is left to the viewer to decide. Despite all its strangeness, I found the movie and the character of James deeply engaging. This is a long look at a love torn asunder by unknown betrayal; the aching story of a man unwilling to forgive and love.