This is a great example of a movie that is great to talk about afterwards, but is far less fun to actually watch (if that makes any sense.)
I’ve seen a few of Kiarostami’s films – all of ’em set in cars – and I’ve always been impressed with his ability to create cinematic plays. By this, I mean something that is almost exclusively dialogue and performance driven, and slowly paced, but not all “in a room,” like what you think of when you think of a “filmed play.”
For this one, he gets out of the car, but keeps it in real time – or, perhaps, sped-up time.
A man and a woman meet, then have the entire lifespan of their relationship in the course of one afternoon. Or maybe they’re just playacting. We don’t know. (If taken literally, than this is Kiarostami’s first science-fiction film.)
It is a fascinating piece, but the problem is that the conversations these two amateur philosophers are having isn’t all that deep. . .or interesting. In fact, they kinda drone on. The film demands your complete attention, but I wanted these two clowns to shut up after a while – something I hadn’t felt in his previous films.
