settima

Kiarostami

کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک [Klūzāp, nemā-ye nazdīk / Close-Up] (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)

Sep

8

Pardon Day

Klūzāp, nemā-ye nazdīk (1990)

Hossain Sabzian riding passenger on a motorcycle holding a large potted rose-red dahlia. DP: Ali Reza Zarrindast.

کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک is visual narrative illustrating a crime. A cinephile, Hossain Sabzian, pretends to be filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and slowly extorts a family into believing to star in the director's next film.

“Prison is good for the good and bad for the wicked. It teaches the good a lesson but only makes the wicked worse.”

– Hossain Sabzian

An article about the case intrigued director #Kiarostami so much that he decided to film the court case against Sabzian, and ask the accused, Makhmalbaf, and the Ahankhah family to reenact some of the events.