Page 4 of 4
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:35 pm
by whaleallright
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.
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:40 pm
by swo17
Year-end voting reminded me I've been meaning to write about
The Traveler, which I may have loved even more than
Close-up.
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.
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:03 pm
by rrenault
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.
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:39 pm
by Vlogler
Sorry to bump an old thread, but does anyone know if the original newspaper article the film is based on is available anywhere?
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 9:28 am
by blueyes
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
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 9:39 am
by tenia
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.
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 7:59 pm
by zedz
blueyes wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 9:28 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.
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 5:42 pm
by Moshrom
zedz wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 7:59 pmWhen 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
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:26 pm
by zedz
Moshrom wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2020 5:42 pm
zedz wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 7:59 pmWhen 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.
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:45 pm
by blueyes
zedz wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:26 pm
Moshrom wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2020 5:42 pm
zedz wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 7:59 pmWhen 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.
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2023 3:09 am
by hearthesilence
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).
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2023 3:34 am
by ryannichols7
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
Re: 519 Close-up
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2023 3:50 am
by hearthesilence
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.