Even Better Than the Real Thing: "Certified Copy"

Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy" is a strange, often beguiling, film, combining a long-running argument on the nature of artistic originality with a "Before Sunrise" story line, but throwing in a Bunuelian twist for good measure.

The picture, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival last year and netted star Juliette Binoche a Best Actress award, will confound some, delight others and, for most viewers, do a little of both.

The film opens as English author, James (William Shimell), speaks in a Tuscan village on his latest book, "Certified Copy," which argues the value of a reproduction of a great piece of art. 

He meets a never-named woman (Juliette Binoche), who invites him on a trip to the countryside to view a piece of art. On the way, the pair discuss everything from Andy Warhol's paintings of Coke bottles to Binoche's family as architecture is reflected on their faces through a car's windshield.

At one point during their countryside visit, the duo stops in a cafe and are mistaken for a married couple by the taverna's owner, a woman. Binoche and the proprietress discuss the difference between how men and women view life and their work.

The film strangely, but subtly, undergoes a shift. Shimell and Binoche now behave as a married couple, arguing over his apparent snoozing on the eve of their 15th anniversary. They bicker as the wedding of a young couple takes place in the background.

Is Kiarostami taking a Lynchian detour? Is one half of the film reality and the other a copy? If so, which is better? The film poses these questions, but don't expect answers.

This is the director's first foray into filmmaking outside of Iran. Much like "Taste of Cherry" and "The Wind Will Carry Us," there are long takes in "Copy" and sequences of people driving for long periods of time in cars. Interestingly, there are also entire sequences in which Kiarostami cuts back and forth between the two actors, forcing them to speak to the screen as if they were conversing with the audience.

Alas, the film's final section does not retain the energy of the first third of the picture or the mystery of the middle section. "Certified Copy" will reward the patient viewer, although I did not believe it to be a masterpiece as some critics have hailed it. It's an ambiguous, but ambitious, little film that mostly works.