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# 564

Fascinating, playful and deeply human. Ostensibly a documentary about an event 20 years past in the director's life,it becomes more than that as it explores the emotional connections of the key players to that event as well as their slightly different memories and perspectives of it. It's also interesting to see the reaction of the three young leads to their roles as they struggle to connect to the events and emotions of another time and person. The ending's a perfect summary of the film's theme

Of all the things I expected from an Iranian film, this somewhat comical meta-movie was not it. It's very interesting, and it's incredibly well done and woven together in a brilliant way. Intriguing, fascinating and a joy to watch, even though it feels like it's falling apart a bit further into the film it's like a puzzle very well put together.

A mostly fictional documentary about a director trying to create a film about a past event that occurred to Makhmalbaf in both reality and the film%u2019s reality, thus might confuse audiences about the film's authenticity. In answer, Makhmalbaf employs %u201Cunnatural%u201D camerawork in multiple scenes, posing a hint to about the film%u2019s truthfulness. Through such methods, he creates a worthy tribute to cinema, an assessment of its unreality and a touching drama all at the same time. Pure

Another fourth wall shattered as had been the trend in 90's Iranian cinema. Some of it is nice but there's just not enough substance here for a feature, and eventually it just rambles. Salaam Cinema does some of the same things better, so to the casual viewer I'd say watch that instead. The good thing about this one is that it shows you some Iranian urban scenery.

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Like Close-Up, this recreates a scene from Makhmalbaf's life, and it's even more brilliant in its execution. What results is a deceptively simple treatise on memory, regret, truth, perception, idealism, filmmaking and politics. There are some truly astonishing surprises in the story and in the telling of the story. Most startling and moving of all is the freeze-frame ending, a rewriting of history as desired by the actors themselves. And it's done with a light touch, often delightfully comic.