Review of Certified Copy (2010) by Rahul P — 21 Mar 2012
She yearns towards her estranged husband and whispers.
"if only we were a bit more tolerant of each others weaknesses,we'd be less alone". "I know one can live alone, but..." She sighs.
We don't know her name. We know his name is James Miller, a Brit writer who just released his new book on authentic art.
Certified Copy is a day full of conversations between the two of them.
They take pot shots at each other, say very deep things (James contributes most of this). Things get touchy, sometimes silly even.
But how often do you see a movie where people shift into new characters without any reason whatsoever? The leads in certified copy are meeting for the first time, we are told.
When mistaken for a couple at a random coffee shop, Juliet Binoche, playing the woman in question, decides not to correct the notion. she starts talking to James like he is her husband. Clearly he is not, yet James continues to reply like he is. The ensuing act doesn't have an audience. It is just between the two of them, that a marital tiff starts to suddenly unfold then.
She complains that he doesn't notice her anymore. He says he does, just that sometimes he is a bit too tired and thus slept off on their anniversary day. It progresses to a church where they say they got married but didn't and ends in a hotel room where they say they celebrated their first night after marriage but they didn't.
Why do we have a movie like certified copy?
I think the secret here lies in its title, which is the title of James new book as well in the film.
"If you are spellbound looking at a fake Monalisa, is it really important that you need to know its fake? Would it matter to you at all?".
This is what Jame's book is about and so is Abbas Kiarostami's 'Certified Copy'. It is a certified copy of a couple who are lonely, estranged and can't get back to loving each other again. But does it matter that its a copy and not real people? Do we complain in the end?
A movie like this comes once in plenty years, asking us literally, what we really make of it and its couple, when the credits start to roll.
Who are these people in real life?
This is one notch above "Before Sunset" for those of you who barked for it in the "Before Sunrise" vs "Before Sunset" arguments. Do not miss it!
This review of Certified Copy (2010) was written by Rahul P on 21 Mar 2012.
Certified Copy has generally received positive reviews.
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