Close-Up (1990) on Netflix
NR19901h 38mBiographyCrimeDrama
Hossain Sabzian, a print shop worker and cinephile, passes himself off as the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. In Tehran he visits the Ahankhah family, promising the sons parts in his next film.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb8.2/1027,453 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes89%
Trailer
Plot summary
In northern Tehran in the late 1980s, Hossain Sabzian rides a bus with the published screenplay of The Cyclist, a film by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the director he admires. The woman in the next seat, Mrs. Ahankhah, says she is a fan of that film and that her sons care about cinema. Sabzian declares that he is Makhmalbaf and hands her the screenplay; she gives him her contact details. Over the next two weeks he calls at the Ahankhah home as the director, suggesting the family's house as a setting for his coming film and offering the sons parts, and he borrows 1,900 tomans from one son for a cab. The family and the others involved re-enact these events for the film.
Cast
- Monoochehr Ahankhahas Self
- Mahrokh Ahankhahas Self
- Abolfazl Ahankhahas Self
- Mehrdad Ahankhahas Self
- Nayer Mohseni Zonoozias Self
- Hossain Farazmandas Reporter
- Ahmad Reza Moayed Mohsenias Family Friend
- Hooshang Shamaeias Taxi Driver
- Mohammad Ali Barratias Soldier
- Davood Goodarzias Sergeant
- Haj Ali Reza Ahmadias Judge
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Close-Up (1990)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Abbas Kiarostami suspended work on a film he already had in pre-production after reading journalist Hassan Farazmand's 1989 article about the Sabzian incident in the Iranian magazine Sorush.
- Kiarostami was allowed to film Sabzian's actual trial, and won the agreement of Sabzian, the Ahankhah family and journalist Farazmand to appear in the film and re-enact the events that had led up to it.
SPOILER
Kiarostami arranged for the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf to meet Sabzian and help facilitate the Ahankhah family's pardon for him.
