Movieo
Poster for Close-Up

Close-Up

A real-life situation based on a real incident in actual locations with actual people involved

1990 · 1h 38m · Not Rated Crime, Drama
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

Seen it?

Overview

This fiction-documentary hybrid uses a sensational real-life event—the arrest of a young man on charges that he fraudulently impersonated the well-known filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf—as the basis for a stunning, multilayered investigation into movies, identity, artistic creation, and existence, in which the real people from the case play themselves.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
89%
Tomatometer
Fresh

The meanings of Close-Up shift, subtly and profoundly, with every viewing; the only certainty is that its rewards are boundless.

Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
Fresh

Successfully blends fact with fiction to produce a work more compelling than any of today's infotainment programs.

Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News
Fresh

Kiarostami's film has artichoke-like layers which, once peeled, are forever resonant.

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
Fresh

Kiarostami has made a film that looks into the heart of a man accused of a crime and, instead of evil, discovers only sweetness, longing and a sad confusion.

Stephen Holden, New York Times

Comments

Talk about the film with other members

More films