Certified Copy (film)
| Certified Copy | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Abbas Kiarostami |
| Produced by |
Marin Karmitz Nathanaël Karmitz Charles Gillibert Angelo Barbagallo |
| Written by | Abbas Kiarostami |
| Starring |
Juliette Binoche William Shimell |
| Cinematography | Luca Bigazzi |
| Edited by | Bahman Kiarostami |
|
Production
company |
MK2
|
| Distributed by | MK2 Diffusion |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
106 minutes |
| Country | France Iran |
| Language | French English Italian |
| Budget | €3.8 million |
| Box office | $5.5 million |
Certified Copy (French: Copie conforme) is a 2010 art film by Iranian writer and director Abbas Kiarostami, starring Juliette Binoche and the British opera singer William Shimell, in his first film role. The film is set in Tuscany, and focuses on a British writer and a French antiques dealer, whose relationship undergoes an odd transformation over the course of a day. The film was a French-majority production, with co-producers in Italy and Belgium. The dialogue is in French, English and Italian.
The film premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival where Binoche won the Best Actress Award for her performance.
British writer James Miller (Shimell) is in Tuscany to give a talk to a group about his new book, titled "Certified Copy", which argues that, in art, issues of authenticity are irrelevant, because every reproduction is itself an original and even the original is a copy of another form. A French antiques dealer, whose name is never given (Binoche), attends the event with her 11-year-old son in order to have Miller sign several copies of the book she has purchased, but has to leave early because her son is hungry and becomes a distraction. She leaves her phone number with Miller's translator.
Miller and the woman later meet at her shop, and Miller suggests they get out and see some of the countryside. The woman drives them around aimlessly while Miller signs the books, and they talk about the book's subject, debating the finer points. Miller points out that even the Mona Lisa is a 'copy' of the woman who modeled for the painting, real or imagined.
They then visit an art museum to see another famous 'copy', and the woman gets increasingly distraught as she complains about her rebellious son to Miller, but he seems to defend her son's behavior. They go to a nearby café for coffee, and while Miller steps outside to take a phone call, the woman who runs the cafe, thinking Miller is the woman's husband, gets into a conversation with the woman about marriage and about him specifically, and Binoche's character immediately plays along. After Miller returns, and the woman makes him aware of their 'assumed' relationship, the two leave the cafe, and the nature of their discussions changes: they start to speak in a combination of French and English instead of just English (Miller states that he only learned French, not Italian in school), and, more unexpectedly, they now speak as if they truly are a married couple, who've been married for 15 years, and her son is their son. Their discussions get personal, and it's intentionally unclear which, if either, is the true reality of the film. After some arguing, and some soul-baring language, a reconciliation (of sorts) ends the film.
...
Wikipedia