Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Certified Copy (2010) NYFF Day 2

As I posted earlier I was late getting into the city for the press screenings because my back was and is bothering me. Things were complicated in my getting to the second film, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, when I couldn't park anywhere near the train stations (I tried 2).

There is more to the story of my day, but it's a tale for some other time and place.

I did make it to the theater in time to be told that the previous screening was filled past capacity and that we would have to wait until people left before we would be allowed in (if anyone left).

Needless to say I did get into the screening.

A side note word from the people I spoke with who were at the two earlier screenings was that the two people who saw Robinson in Ruins found it interesting. The reaction to Boonmee was split between those finding it tedious and those who found it rapturous. (I may not win friends at NYFF by reporting that but I report what I hear)

Certified Copy makes the return of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami to narrative film making after ten years of making experimental films. On the other hand the narrative structure is such that he really didn't leave experimental films behind.

The story of the film is a day long conversation of a man and a woman. He is a writer.She sells art. As the conversation goes on we realize that what we are seeing is a series of conversations, all in the "same" places, over the course of their relationship.

I know when this played Cannes people were falling all over themselves. Partly because of the return of the director, but also because of the performance of Juliette Binoche as the woman in the story. Binoche is quite good, but as for the rest of it I'm unconvinced that it amounts to very much.

Don't get me wrong I love the discussion about relationships, of art and of the way to live your life, but at the same time the fragmentary nature of the narrative, which bounces us through time makes getting a handle on details of the relationship dodgy. Actually the fact that the film is filmed as one day with the characters with the same clothes through out, makes it hard to know what is what and when (this would have kicked ass on stage). I mean how can you know how we are to take something if you don't know when it is? Yes, give the film points for treating the audience as capable of working it out, but at the same time there were no clues to work with so at a certain point we begin to drift. For me the resonances disappeared as a result.

William Shimell who plays the male lead is quite good. Unfortunately his character in the later part of the film becomes so cold and distant that its hard to know what happened or why he's behaving like that. Where Binoche's character arcs, Shimell's characters crashes.

I like the film for the most part but mostly I'm at a loss to explain why people have been championing it. Its interesting but its not any better than good.

For my money I think I would have been better off waiting for its regular theatrical run. I don't think it was worth the effort to hobble into Manhattan to see it. I will say that if you are interested you will want to see this on a big screen because the Italian country side where this takes place is, in the words of our hero "Stunning". It is worth a regular movie admission price

To be released soon from IFC Films. I'm also guessing it will show up on their pay per view service.


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