Fresh
The meanings of Close-Up shift, subtly and profoundly, with every viewing; the only certainty is that its rewards are boundless.
Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
Close-Up
A real-life situation based on a real incident in actual locations with actual people involved.
1990 · 1h 38m · Not Rated
Crime, Drama
Directed by
Abbas Kiarostami
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Close-Up
Overview
This fiction-documentary hybrid uses a sensational real-life event—the arrest of a young man on charges that he fraudulently impersonated the well-known filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf—as the basis for a stunning, multilayered investigation into movies, identity, artistic creation, and existence, in which the real people from the case play themselves.
Director and cast
- Abbas Kiarostami Director
- Hossain Sabzian as Hossain Sabzian
- Abolfazl Ahankhah as Abolfazl Ahankhah
- Mehrdad Ahankhah as Mehrdad Ahankhah
- Nayer Mohseni Zonoozi as Nayer Mohseni Zonoozi
- Ahmad Reza Moayed Mohseni as Family Friend
- Mohsen Makhmalbaf as Mohsen Makhmalbaf
- Hossain Farazmand as Reporter
- Mahrokh Ahankhah as Mahrokh Ahankhah
- Monoochehr Ahankhah as Monoochehr Ahankhah
- Haj Ali Reza Ahmadi as Judge
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
89%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Successfully blends fact with fiction to produce a work more compelling than any of today's infotainment programs.
Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News
Fresh
Kiarostami's film has artichoke-like layers which, once peeled, are forever resonant.
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
Fresh
Kiarostami has made a film that looks into the heart of a man accused of a crime and, instead of evil, discovers only sweetness, longing and a sad confusion.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
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