519 Close-up

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whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: 519 Close-up

#76 Post by whaleallright » Thu Jun 24, 2010 6:35 pm

Gilberto Perez's essay on Kiarostami, collected in his book The Material Ghost, is worth reading. He takes issue with those, like Jonathan Rosenbaum, who interpreted this film primarily as an exercise in postmodern skepticism and reflexivity.

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swo17
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Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
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Re: 519 Close-up

#77 Post by swo17 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 6:40 pm

Year-end voting reminded me I've been meaning to write about The Traveler, which I may have loved even more than Close-up.
SpoilerShow
Most of what I've read about the ending seems to interpret it fairly literally as Qassem getting what he deserves, but I had a slightly different take on it that really resonated with me. When Qassem finally arrives in the stadium and discovers he has a few hours to kill, he again puts himself before others, opting to amuse himself around town rather than make a connection perhaps with the man who has agreed to watch his bag. But what he finds outside the stadium is a whole world of opportunities that do not involve (ahem) football, a world that is spacious and fascinating though perhaps just a little cold and unwilling to forgive the kid for his past selfishness. As a recovered teenage sports addict myself (as well as someone who may currently focus a bit too much of his life on watching movies at times as opposed to living a well-balanced life), I can greatly appreciate this sentiment of discovering or rediscovering an element of life that you have neglected for far too long, and Kiarostami makes the point so subtly and beautifully that stealing money from my mom's sock drawer the next time I visit her to buy imported DVDs of his films for myself seems like the least I can do to repay him.

P.S. I spoilered this whole post mostly so my mom won't find out.

rrenault
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:49 pm

Re: 519 Close-up

#78 Post by rrenault » Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:03 pm

How long is The Traveler, because all sources seem to say 83 minutes, but the film included in this release only appeared to clock in at around 1:13.

Vlogler
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2015 1:58 pm

Re: 519 Close-up

#79 Post by Vlogler » Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:39 pm

Sorry to bump an old thread, but does anyone know if the original newspaper article the film is based on is available anywhere?

blueyes
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2016 7:35 pm

Re: 519 Close-up

#80 Post by blueyes » Tue Nov 26, 2019 5:28 am

Hello, forum

From a review in the site Retro-hd, I learned that the French blu-ray of Close-up (released in 2018) apparently has a different aspect ratio than the Criterion, and the court sequences presented in black and white! Can anyone shed a light on why this is so? Is there any reference as to Kiarostami's intentions?

Thanks in advance

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tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: 519 Close-up

#81 Post by tenia » Tue Nov 26, 2019 5:39 am

I wrote the review for Retro-HD and didn't manage to get additionnal details for this restoration. I "think" it's a newer one, but I have no idea how it could turn up to be that different from the Criterion one. It also looked like the 35mm sequences were filtered/degrained. Finally, I wasn't convinced by the color scheme that seemed not so much colder than the Criterion but neutered in a way. This being written, the Criterion seems quite reddish, possibly biased in this direction.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 519 Close-up

#82 Post by zedz » Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:59 pm

blueyes wrote:
Tue Nov 26, 2019 5:28 am
Hello, forum

From a review in the site Retro-hd, I learned that the French blu-ray of Close-up (released in 2018) apparently has a different aspect ratio than the Criterion, and the court sequences presented in black and white! Can anyone shed a light on why this is so? Is there any reference as to Kiarostami's intentions?

Thanks in advance
When I first saw the film on 35mm in 1991 the courtroom sequences were in colour.

Moshrom
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 2:53 am
Location: Canada

Re: 519 Close-up

#83 Post by Moshrom » Thu Feb 13, 2020 1:42 pm

zedz wrote:
Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:59 pm
When I first saw the film on 35mm in 1991 the courtroom sequences were in colour.
Do you remember what aspect ratio it was in?

The restoration

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 519 Close-up

#84 Post by zedz » Thu Feb 13, 2020 3:26 pm

Moshrom wrote:
Thu Feb 13, 2020 1:42 pm
zedz wrote:
Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:59 pm
When I first saw the film on 35mm in 1991 the courtroom sequences were in colour.
Do you remember what aspect ratio it was in?

The restoration
It was Academy. The Criterion disc is correct; the French disc is wrong.

blueyes
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2016 7:35 pm

Re: 519 Close-up

#85 Post by blueyes » Thu Feb 13, 2020 3:45 pm

zedz wrote:
Thu Feb 13, 2020 3:26 pm
Moshrom wrote:
Thu Feb 13, 2020 1:42 pm
zedz wrote:
Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:59 pm
When I first saw the film on 35mm in 1991 the courtroom sequences were in colour.
Do you remember what aspect ratio it was in?

The restoration
It was Academy. The Criterion disc is correct; the French disc is wrong.
I have no trouble believing the Criterion is correct, but is there anything that can support that claim? In my original post I asked if anyone had any idea about Kiarostami’s intentions or, another way to put it, what could possibly be the reason for those choices made in the French edition.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: 519 Close-up

#86 Post by hearthesilence » Sun Nov 12, 2023 11:09 pm

FWIW, The Traveler (which was included in 1080i on Criterion's Blu-ray as a bonus feature) has a new 2K restoration "undertaken by MK2 in collaboration with L’Immagine Ritrovata from 2K scans of the best available elements" and it is indeed very much a substantial upgrade. Hopefully it gets a physical release sometime in the future - pretty much all of his films have been restored by MK2, so there's a chance it could all just be packaged together (albeit in a French release).

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ryannichols7
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm

Re: 519 Close-up

#87 Post by ryannichols7 » Sun Nov 12, 2023 11:34 pm

Criterion doing a full career box of Kiarostami once all the restorations are in would be great (as they presumably own all US and UK licenses, judging from what's released so far.)

then again, it will go great next to my Ozu 120, Kinuyo Tanaka, Marta Meszaros, and Jean Eustache boxes. and of course, Rosenbaum will be called in to do one commentary, a living director will do a "discussion" about Kiarostami, and no other new extras will be created. but hey, the transfers!

The Traveler is an awesome film, worthy of its own release

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: 519 Close-up

#88 Post by hearthesilence » Sun Nov 12, 2023 11:50 pm

I should've posted something, but MoMA has been running an amazing retrospective on Iranian cinema before the revolution, and The Traveler just finished up its second and last screening. Plenty of screenings to come though, including a program of Kiarostami shorts, presumably from the same batch of restorations in Janus's possession. The program is worth it for Two Solutions for One Problem alone, which otherwise circulates in a watchable but less-than-ideal VHS copy on YouTube...I've seen it several times, but a re-visit this past week was devastating. It always seemed like a sweet little film, but now it's just heart-wrenching in light of what's happening in the world.

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