Certified Copy (NR) ★★★
It's rare to find a movie as fearless as Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy. What with it being thin of plot and high in talking. One might look back on Richard Linklater's very fine Before Sunset to find something as similar as Kiarostami's fresh film. The fun that comes with this film is in trying to differ what's fact and what's fiction. Telling the plot details would only spoil or ruin a movie that should be white paper in your head as you walk into the theatre. All I will say is that Julliette Binoche plays a French woman that befriends and English writer as they wander in the beautiful streets of San Gimignano in Italy. Be warned this is delicate, almost quiet material Kiarostami deals with here and it will surely not interest mainstream audience that wants action and overacting in every frame. Certified Copy is more than that. It's a frustrating but emotionally well built film that deconstructs the connections and the ties that bind. Binoche in an incredible performance that will surely stand as one of the best this year is a powerful presence ditto William Shimell as her counterpart to this incredibly layered adventure. Kiarostami has never been one to hug Hollywood bull, instead he breaks the rules as one can attest to watching his 1990 film Close-Up. Certified Copy is no exception.