“Close-up” Review

Let me start by saying I loved the movie, even when I had mixed-matched emotions all throughout. The actor in me was very confused from the very start. Knowing the smoke and mirrors of movie making, I sensed something was off. As a writer I thought the script was simply poor yet the director in me felt thrilled by every second unveiling on screen. What a rollercoaster.

Once the movie finished, I wiped away my tears and gathered myself. I felt both devastated and overstimulated with a false sense of joy. The kind of crying my mother performs when thinking of grandpa. Her black makeup tears rained over a scattered forced smile that could not hold itself strong, making her lips tremble until they simply had to let go. Much of Fernando Pessoa’s happy sadness…I had a similar reaction.

I started thinking if most people watching the film could relate to Hossein Sabzian in some way. Who has not felt like a phony once in their lives? Who has not wanted to disappear, even for a day or two, leaving one’s own skin to become the dream version of our “loser” selves? Of course, we believe we would never go that far, but could we? I don’t know; I am sure many have. I wonder if I could. I thought perhaps, because I am a dreamer, I relate to him, while others might find him just a crazy fool who crossed the line of what is right and what´s wrong.

I discovered this film at a very intricate time in history, days after Iran was attacked. In a way, it showed me a world that is reaching the final …

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