Certified Copy Analysis

Certified Copy (2010)

Written and Directed by: Abbas Kiarostami
Starring: Juliette Binoche, William Shimell
Premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2010
Best Actress at Cannes for Juliette Binoche.

A British writer, and a French antiques dealer walk and talk over Tuscany for a day. The film by the idea and the setting, seems like a Richard Linklater film, a Woody Allen film, or a Hong Sang-soo film. Artist protagonists. Conversations over a walk. Conversations about art. Using a city as a setting. Barely any conflicts. But the film also gets into the Charlie Kaufman territory. It becomes confusing and complex in parts, especially how they switch roles from a certain point in the film. The film also talks about originality in art, which is already such a nuanced topic. They talk about 'Mona Lisa' being a copy of a woman, which reminded me of the Art Curious Podcast, and the conspiracy theories they had saying that the actual Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum is actually a fake one, and the real one is actually lost or in a safe vault. So the question is, does it even matter? 

It's interesting how the film is shot. It mostly uses one shots of characters as they talk to each other, until they start talking like they are a couple, from then I recall that it's most two shots, where both of them are in the frame. The film, for sure, intrigued me because of the abstract narrative but there's no emotional gratification. The viewing experience of the film is quite absurd, and it almost feels semi conscious. The film grabs you, and engages you for a bit, and leaves you hanging there for a bit.