Those who followed my Cannes coverage will know that “Certified Copy,” Abbas Kiarostami’s first film shot outside his native Iran, was comfortably my favorite film of the festival — and one of my favorites of the year, period. The Guardian posted the British trailer yesterday; they’re claiming an “exclusive,” though it’s actually been in UK cinemas since last week. I hesitated before posting this, and not only because a crisp embed has yet to emerge: the trailer doesn’t serve the film terribly well, though it’s admittedly a talky piece that’s tricky to market. It should, however, give you an inkling of why Juliette Binoche took well-deserved gold at Cannes — in a fair world, she’d be right in the thick of the Best Actress discussion. Click on the image to check it out at The Guardian, or watch the (slightly fuzzy) embed after the cut.
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12 responses to “‘Certified Copy’ trailer”
I had no idea this was in English. Kind of disappointed.
How does the language it’s in matter at all?
French has a certain feel for this kind of film, at least for me, and Binoche performs stronger in it.
English is not as poetic a language.
Can’t wait!!! The trailer makes it look fantastic.
Guy- from what I gather from several of your posts, you appear to be a pretty big Kiarostami fan. As one myself, I was wondering if we will ever see a top ten list like the one you did for Soderbergh last year.
Well Binoche did win her Oscar for an English-language film… ;)
And I have seen several very poetic movies in English. It’s only not as poetic to you because you’re so familiar with it.
Guy, if you had to pick one: “Certified Copy” or “White Material”?
James D: Actually, it’s a multilingual film, with significant portions of dialogue in English, French and Italian — the film makes a thematic virtue of hopping between them. The trailer presumably emphasises the English for marketing purposes.
Nick L: That’s an idea. Maybe when the film nears US release. I’d have to revisit his oeuvre to settle on a list, but I know this one would sit pretty high.
Danny: “White Material,” absolutely. I revisited the film last week, and it only gets stronger — I’m tempted to call it my favourite film of the last three or four years.
Yeah, I looked it up and saw it had multiple languages. Everything about it during Cannes screamed French to me, though.
Speaking English, I have been speaking French longer than English. An English film can be poetic, but it is more likely to work in French. Even so-so French films have that quality.
I somewhat agree with James D., as a film like ‘Volver’, for instance, would not be the same, for me, if it were English instead of Spanish.
Wow. Looking forward to November now.
The quotations are a pain, but it looks good otherwise. I must be a ‘dweeb’ or whatever the term was.
saw it last night.
amazing film. several people walked out of a packed festival screening, and there were times during the film that i felt like doing the same. but the after effects once you’ve digested the whole tale are extraordinary.
oh, as someone said somewhere, there’s a fair display of wry humour and in jokes littered throughout.
thoroughly recommended, but don’t miss a second of it. it repays concentration handsomely.