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Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami heads to Tuscany to direct Juliette Binoche in this playful semi-romance. Alex Davidson marvels at the tantalising pairing of two world-class cinema talents.

One of the world’s most renowned directors working with one of the world’s best actresses is a tantalising prospect for any cinema lover, and the highly ambitious yet accessible Certified Copy does not disappoint.

Abbas Kiarostami, the Iranian master who, until now, has never made a film outside his homeland, directs Juliette Binoche in a playful semi-romance between a gallery owner and a stuffy British writer (played by opera star William Shimell). Appearances, we soon see, are deceptive; at a crucial point in the narrative, when a café owner assumes they are a couple, they fall into role-play - or is this, in fact, their true relationship?

Binoche, who won the Best Actress award at Cannes for this role, is remarkable, in one of the most demanding female roles of recent years. Impulsive and affecting, hers is a tour-de-force performance. Shimell, too, in his film debut, perfectly embodies a complex character, as the often unsympathetic yet vulnerable author.

As with so many Kiarostami films, a synopsis can not do justice to his idiosyncratic vision - this shows a brilliant director still willing to take risks, and the final shot is unforgettable.

 

Alex Davidson on 13th December 2010
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The fact that the star of Certified Copy, Juliette Binoche, won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival demonstrates that there is some justice in the world... more >

The fact that the star of Certified Copy, Juliette Binoche, won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival demonstrates that there is some justice in the world, as this is a truly luminous performance in a film which makes considerable demands on its two leading players. Binoche's affecting, nuanced playing is more than matched by the British opera singer William Shimmell, who demonstrates the same casual skill at film acting technique as he does when dealing with the music of the great composers. The film takes place over the course of one day in the Tuscan countryside and describes the growing relationship -- both real and imagined -- between two people who have just (it appears) met. In this splendid Blu-ray transfer, the image is both luminous and forensically detailed. < less

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