Abbas Kiarostamis drama focuses on the curious relationship between Elle (Binoche), a French woman living in Tuscany, and an English writer James (Shimell), who has travelled to the picturesque Italian region to promote his latest book. Upon meeting for the first time in Elles shop, the two strangers venture into the town and embark on a marathon conversation/debate/argument about love, life, art and the concept of the certified copy.
In his first feature made outside of his native Iran, Kiarostamis latest is a film about ideas, relationships and real conversations. Its somewhat of a brave and experimental piece too, incorporating long unspectacular takes and largely ignoring the beautiful locales of Tuscany in favour of the actors (just Binoche and Shimell for the most part), their faces, their mannerisms, their reactions and their actions.
Its also very boring. Initially playing out like Before Sunrise for intellectuals, the seemingly idle chitchat becomes increasingly heated and emotionally charged, eventually descending into a strange and ambiguous role-playing game (Is it role-playing or do these people actually know each other?). The problem is, while striving for profundity through the arty chitchat of its two protagonists, Certified Copy becomes lost in its own sense of self-importance. Believing that its saying far more than it actually is, Kiarostamis tedious exploration of relationships forgets to be entertaining, leaving us with a prolonged tête-à-tête that you would tire of after 10 minutes of eaves-dropping, let alone 106 minutes. I hesitate to use the word, pretentious, but…
A great performance from Juliette Binoche though, who very nearly manages to carry the entire film.
Overall Verdict: Certified Copy is a tedious exploration of relationships that is smart, though not as smart as it thinks it is.
Special Features:
Making of Documentary
Trailer
Reviewer: Lee Griffiths