Close-Up Long Shot (1996) - full transcript
PLAY FILM PRESENTS
I've known Mr. Sabzian
for nearly ten years.
We exchange hellos.
He used to pass by here
on his way home.
He always carried movie magazines
and scripts and such .
I 'd ask him why, and he'd say,
"I love cinema."
Then he disappeared for three months.
"Where have you been?"
""I was acting in a film."
"What film?"
"Close-up."
"When will it be showing?"
"Soon ."
A while later we found out
it was showing .
We went to see it
and even rented the videotape.
My view is that
he adored the movies,
so he seized the first opportunity
to be a part of cinema.
I think his great interest
in film explains it.
The film was very instructive.
It showed that, if given a chance,
people can achieve a lot.
I think it was very instructive.
Written and Directed by
MOSLEM MANSOURl
and MAHMOUD CHOKROLLAHI
He'd had a keen interest in movies
since he was five or six.
He'd go to the movies a lot
and eventually thought
of making one himself,
but he had no means,
no money,
so he couldn't go any further.
Then he met this family
who provided
the chance to make a film.
He pretended to be
a famous Iranian film director,
in order to reach his goals,
to express himself.
But unfortunately,
since that wasn't legal ,
he got in trouble for a while.
After that...
another film director met Sabzian
for this film Close-up,
which to some extent reflects
the realities of Sabzian's life,
a person fascinated
since childhood by filmmaking.
Another important point is that
if you look closely,
I don't think any director
has ever attempted
to change the way a person is.
But Sabzian was a new man
by the end of this film.
He came out of his shell
and expressed what was inside him.
Do you know what
Close-up means ?
Not really.
From what I've heard,
it means ""dirty."
Or some kind of filthy water,
as far as I know.
Stagnant water.
That's what Close-up means.
CLOSE-UP
LONG SHOT
Sabzian has been our neighbor
for almost 15 years.
When we moved here,
he was living with his mother.
He had a wife and two kids.
I 'd bought this piece of land
and started building on it.
I asked him
what kind of work he did.
Repairing and binding books,
he said,
and also some activities
in the movie business.
He was always milling about.
I 'd ask why he wasn't working,
and he'd say he was.
Finally his life fell apart.
His wife divorced him
and went back to her folks,
taking one of the kids
and leaving the other with him.
Sabzian stayed
with his mother for a while,
but they couldn't afford
to raise the child.
After a while Sabzian left,
and the child went back
to live with the mother.
She has both of them now.
Hossein isn't around anymore.
He comes and goes.
So that's how it is.
His life fell apart.
The truth is
he can't support his family.
A man should work
and support his family.
If he can't provide
his wife with money,
she'll divorce him
and leave that life.
He's a nice guy,
but not really very normal .
He's a dreamer.
He lives in his fantasies.
He's told so many lies
that people don't listen anymore.
They don't really trust him.
Would you say that
in his presence ?
Yes.
Would you call Mr. Sabzian ?
Mr. Sabzian is a good guy,
but he's not quite normal .
He's a dreamer.
He's dreamed so much
that people often
don't believe him anymore.
If I continue to dream,
it's because my dreams
haven't yet materialized...
because I don't fit
into social norms.
I haven't stepped
out of my fantasies.
I confirm more or less
what he said.
THE CYCLIST
Excuse me,
where did you get that book?
where did you buy that book?
In a bookstore.
- Could you give me the address ?
- You can have it.
You're very kind, but I'd -
Please take it. I wrote it.
You wrote it?
Really?
- Yes.
- You're Mr. Makhmalbaf?
- Yes.
Pleased to meet you.
That's very kind of you.
lf you'd like, I'll autograph it.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
I let my love for cinema
destroy my life...
but I'm still always eager
to see a good film.
It's not important who made it.
Just seeing it
is the important thing.
The cinema lost me my job.
It robbed me of my life...
my social identity.
THE HOLY KORAN
MAKING FILMS IN SUPER 8
But even now, just one good film
and I eagerly turn back to cinema.
If I had the money,
I might, for example,
like Peter Falk,
buy kites so I wouldn't grow up.
The cinema -
Whenever I see a film,
I ""dissolve" myself in it...
to such an extent
that I reach the bottom.
I fade out and perhaps...
I get lost in it.
And this has played
an essential role in my life.
Cinema is important to me.
It's like a prism.
A good film...
is part of my life.
With every good film I see,
I feel reborn .
It feels as if I made it myself,
as if it were my creation .
I identify with the director.
I identify with the actors.
I feel attuned
and in harmony
with the atmosphere of the film.
I feel as if it's my story.
That's how films carry me away.
That's why they've become
my obsession .
If I didn't have to live in society,
I 'd seek shelter in the mountains
and live all by myself.
If I didn't have to go on living,
and were courageous enough ,
I 'd have liked to be hanged
from the beams of cinema.
If I had the courage to protest...
I would use filmmaking
as a tool to fight all injustice.
I saw Close-up several times.
They showed it on TV too.
But that was a kind of fraud.
You can't say he was acting.
It was like some kind of con .
It was of course
quite instructive for young people,
but it wasn't the film
Sabzian had wanted to make
when he impersonated
someone else.
What we saw on TV
seemed like some kind of con .
Personally, I don't think he meant
to cheat those people.
He's a poor, helpless man .
I've seen him around here
for several years.
He's miserable.
The reasons are cultural
and also personal weakness.
There are plenty of others
like him in this country.
There are so many crooks in this world,
and nobody gives a damn .
But when I take 1,900 tomans,
the whole world finds out,
even the late Mitterrand.
When I got on that bus,
I just wanted to publicize the film
by showing the screenplay.
When that lady sat next to me,
I thought I 'd create a little publicity.
I showed her the script,
and she got interested .
She wanted to know more about it,
as the film shows.
Then she suddenly asked
who'd written it, and I said I had,
and she asked
if I was Makhmalbaf.
At that point I could feel
that the clothes I was
about to put on were too tight.
Too tight for me.
But the pleasure that that role
gave me made me continue.
The clothes burst apart
at the very moment I was arrested.
The buttons popped off,
and I emerged.
I wore it in every scene
when I was playing
the part of Makhmalbaf.
But after that,
when I was exposed,
I was uncovered.
And when that happened,
I didn't like myself.
There were no more clothes,
none that fit me.
And then ...
when it was all over,
and I reentered society,
I felt people's eyes on me.
Narrow-minded people
who talked about everything
but my enthusiasm
for the movies.
What I did wasn't minor -
tell the whole world about it -
but that irrational act
proved my love for film.
I'm satisfied...
because I made
one of my dreams come true.
I was Makhmalbaf for four days.
I remember Orson Welles's
advice to his students
who wondered how to find
the money for their films.
"Steal it", he said.
"At least you'll fulfill your hopes."
Who's to blame?
I may be one of cinema's victims.
I intended to devour cinema,
and it ended up devouring me.
It didn't appreciate me.
I still advise all cinema lovers...
that if they can't achieve their dreams,
the way I see it,
do as Orson Welles said:
""Steal the money."
Just steal it.
- Mr. Sabzian ?
- Yes.
- Detained for?
- Attempted fraud.
Attempted fraud.
You have a visitor.
Hello.
- How are you?
- Fine, thanks.
- You know who I am?
- Sure.
I read an article about you
and decided to come see you.
I see.
In what newspaper?
- It was a magazine.
I read that
you're interested in film,
so since I'm a filmmaker,
I wanted to talk to you.
- And you are. . . ?
- Kiarostami.
Ah, right.
I'm surprised.
I've seen your films.
- You have ?
ls there anything
I can do for you?
You could make a film
about my suffering.
We worked in the same shop
15 or 18 years ago.
Hossein was crazy about movies.
He spent all his time on them.
His heart wasn't in his work.
Night and day,
from dawn to dusk,
his goal was to go
to the studios
and get actors' autographs.
He had no interest in the work.
I did and , thank God ,
the business is doing well .
As for Hossein ,
his situation needs no comment.
He sacrificed everything
for the movies:
his wife, his children ,
his whole life.
His heart isn't in his work.
He works here sometimes.
Since we worked together before...
I just want to help him out a little.
He works occasionally.
Whenever you ask,
he says he was at the movies.
At work he talks
about movies the whole time,
and he distracts the others.
He wastes his time,
and their time too.
I can't fire him.
I 'd feel bad .
After all , we were coworkers.
He's older than me.
His life is just what you see.
He owns only the clothes
on his back.
I don't think he has a steady job.
How about his love
for the movies ?
I wouldn't call it love.
It's insanity.
Someone who sacrifices
his family, his life,
everything for the movies -
that's not love, that's insanity.
This bookbindery I work in
belongs to Mr. Nemat.
He used to work for me.
He was under me.
Well , he worked hard,
and now he owns the business.
But I stuck to the movies.
I continued to pursue my interest,
and now I work for him.
The only thing
the movies did for me
was to portray me
as a con artist.
If that's the case,
everyone's a con artist.
That family wanted
to use Mohsen Makhmalbaf
to gain prestige.
That's a kind of con .
Maybe I toyed with their feelings,
but their actions
speak for themselves.
Or that reporter
who wanted to break the story
so he could become
another Oriana Fallaci ,
using me as his bridge,
his stepladder to success -
that's another kind of con .
Even Kiarostami himself, who heard
of my case through that reporter...
found an interesting subject,
and won international acclaim for it.
When you think of it, he conned me.
He's a con artist too.
I think that...
Close-up depicts the natural cou rse
of events I set in motion .
For example,
I promised that family
that they would appear in a film.
Well , they did.
What I said happened.
And when I saw
Kiarostami at work,
I noticed that the direction
I 'd been giving
was no different from his.
The family listened to him
the way they'd listened to me.
There was no difference between
how he directed and how I did.
I felt numb sitting there.
None of it was of interest to me.
They were all in collusion .
Please cut.
Could you give us
your comments about Close-up?
I think Close-up is
the true version of Les miserables,
and my brother
is like Jean Valjean ,
who, for a stale piece of bread,
will have to bear this shame forever.
But I think
there are lots of Jean Valjeans
around if you look.
But only a few are honest,
and my brother is one of them.
Not only is Close-up
not a real close-up view,
but its only artistic feature
is to depict
the misery, shortcomings,
and unkindness of people.
That's the only ""close-up"
to this film.
Close-up is like
both sides of a coin .
It was positive and negative
at the same time.
It was good that it was made,
because I had something to say,
as I mentioned in the film -
that film can be
a medium to express
the ills and challenges
that face a society.
But on the other hand,
when I was back
in the ""city of the pygmies" -
to use your expression -
those who can't see
beyond their nose,
I felt like an outsider.
I had to descend to their level .
That was very hard for me.
It has nothing to do
with geographic location .
Whether they live here in Yabr,
or in wealthy neighborhoods,
it makes no difference.
There are plenty of ""pygmies"
there too.
I've seen lots of them.
But there are those among them
who got the message of the film.
Insofar as Close-up
found its audience,
and they liked it,
that wasn't bad for me,
since they didn't react negatively to me.
But some people
were irritated by the film,
and that was hard for me.
You know,
80% of people are like that,
and we live among them.
How can I ...
convince them
of how things really are?
Do you agree
that 80% of people are common
and that only 20%...
think differently,
or look at things
from a different angle?
We have to live
among these people, like it or not.
They don't see the details.
They only see
the surface of the film.
If they took a deeper look,
we wouldn't have run
into some of these problems.
If Close-up hadn't been made,
I 'd have had to keep going on my own ,
like Nassim in The Cyclist.
He kept on pedaling ,
though the contest was over.
The contest was over,
but he just had to go on .
I 'd have had to do the same,
at least for my own sake.
Because of what happened,
I had no other way to go.
I 'd have come to a standstill ,
so I 'd have gone on on my own .
Or perhaps I 'd have immersed myself
in a kind of nostalgia, my loneliness.
I think that
when it comes to real love,
there's always helplessness,
failure, and disappointment.
Everything Hossein's
been through
shows his love for the movies.
His lack of direction ,
his not fighting for his rights,
are a sign of his love.
That's the best proof
of his love for cinema.
I think people who are like me,
who think like me,
are melting away like snow.
They have no place
to express themselves.
There are horizontal corpses
and vertical corpses.
Perhaps we're the second kind.
I imagined Makhmalbaf
to be like Nassim in The Cyclist.
When I met him...
he treated me all right,
but I had the impression
that I'd like him better
if I kepi my distance.
How old are you?
I'm 42.
I was born in 1954.
Tell us a little
about your childhood.
who was Sabzian
before Close-up?
The foundation
for our personality is usually laid
during childhood.
According to Thomas Harris,
our character is shaped
during the first five years
of our lives
and reveals itself later.
The connection between
my childhood and the movies
is that one day
my father took me by the hand...
and we went
to the Lalehzar Theater
to see The Bride of the Sea,
starring Vigen .
There my father put my hand
in cinema's hand.
My father let go of my hand,
but cinema never did.
I held its hand tight,
and said hello to cinema
for the first time.
I remember...
that as a schoolboy,
I skipped school for three months.
Every day...
I 'd take my books
and go to the movies.
Sometimes
they wouldn't let me in .
Before going home
in the evening ,
I 'd write essays
and grade them with As.
I 'd mark them up
like the teacher would have done,
to avoid suspicion .
This went on for months.
We were living
in lsfahan at the time.
I skipped school for three months,
until they caught on .
My mother took me to school ,
and I was whipped
because of my movie-going.
That's what
they used to do at the time.
Back home
I promised not to do it again ,
and they said
I should think of my future.
Then one day my mother
gave me money to buy gasoline.
I hid the gas can in the bath room
and used the money to go see
Hell at My Feet.
I watched the film
during the fi rst show...
but during the second screening
I ""flashed forward"
and saw my father giving me
a terrible beating.
The fear of that beating
nailed me to my seat.
Du ring the next screening,
I was consumed with fear
and couldn't absorb
anything from the film.
I was overcome with fear.
I stayed like that for a while,
until the last show.
This was
at the I ran Cinema in lsfahan .
When the last
of the audience left,
I pretended to have to use
the restroom and hid in there.
Then I went back in the theater
and fell asleep
on one of the seats,
in some kind of purgatory.
A janitor found me
early the next morning
and asked
what I was doing there
and why I wasn't at home.
I told him about my interest in film.
I stayed away from home
for three months.
I was afraid to go back.
I stayed at a friend's house
until my family found me
and took me back home.
My father gave me another lecture
and a terrible beating.
He said to come work with him,
that he would take me to the movies
himself on weekends.
For instance, I remember...
it was cinema
that made my father
take me for an outing
one weekend.
I had no idea where we were going.
We went
to one of his friends' house.
After a while...
the host -
There were
about ten people there,
including the host's son ,
seated next to his father.
The host started telling us
how great his son was.
I didn't know
what it was all about.
Then my father
asked him for advice.
""What should we do?"
I still didn't know
what was going on .
Our host took us all
down to the basement.
We were in lsfahan at the time.
That's where
I saw most of the films.
In the middle of the basement...
I saw a stool ...
turned upside down .
They all stood around.
Mr. Shirazi stepped forward
and pushed me.
I fell back into the stool ...
with my legs sticking up.
His son was laughing.
Everyone was laughing.
Mr. Shirazi said they had
to teach me a lesson .
They had these switches,
and they all took turns
whipping me with them.
That was a bit of a blow
to my self-confidence.
After that...
I was afraid of people around me.
But I'm not anymore.
Unconsciously maybe,
but not in the same way.
All I can do
is curse the movies.
They robbed me of my childhood.
But I've come to think
that today's cinema,
which I consider
an advanced cinema,
is simply color and form.
That's enough .
Exactly half my life
was spent in the dark.
My life itself was in the dark.
I've never seen my life in focus.
It's all been a blurred image.
Financially speaking ,
I spent money to buy tickets.
In terms of years,
I spent my time.
And psychologically speaking,
I sold my soul to cinema.
So that's how
I spent the best hours
of my childhood...
in the dark.
It's the child in me
who gives the orders.
The adult may be ti red,
but he obeys.
Because of my early days...
the child always surfaces.
One interpretation is that
the adult is scared of him.
When the adult shows himself...
it's a defense mechanism...
to protect me from my father...
and from the conflicts I've repressed.
It's a means of self-protection .
You'd need a long time...
to dissect me.
I may be a small man ,
but I'm deep.
The more you dig,
the deeper it goes.
Nobody's reached bottom yet.
My anguish prevents me...
from revealing myself.
Childhood fears.
I may sound self-satisfied,
but I believe Jean-Paul Sartre
when he says,
""if a cripple doesn't win the race,
he has only himself to blame."
In Close-up, I was scared in that house,
but the child was with me.
The adult in me
was on the alert...
but the playful child kept going.
I may be too arrogant.
I don't know.
But I don't care.
What you call multiple personalities...
isn't multiple to me.
It's just a life without harmony.
Sometimes the forces reconcile.
Sometimes
they encourage each other,
and sometimes
they antagonize each other,
and this humiliates the child in me,
so I feel like a victim.
But sometimes
the child jumps for joy.
I don't know what you're up to.
What are your intentions?
Which Sabzian
are you trying to reach?
The one always seen
from a high-angle shot?
Or the one constantly
in a tilt shot?
Or the one in a pan shot?
In any case,
I like all that movement.
It doesn't bother me
as long as I'm in the picture.
Sohrab Sepehri says, ""I knew a donkey
who understood the hay."
I may not understand the hay,
but I'm happy to be a donkey.
I even relish it.
I'm all for it,
watching from the outside.
I've reached a state
of mental constipation .
I sound like I'm on a soapbox.
Let's cut.
Cinematography by
FARZlN KHOSROWSHAHI
Edited by
NASROLLAH SH E I BAN I
Sound by
BAHMAN H E I DARl
Music by
SHAH ROKH KHADJ ENOU Rl
Sound Assistant
DJAVAD MOG HADASSl
Production Manager
SHAH RAM ZAH EDl
Featu ring HOSSE I N SABZIAN ,
FATEMEH SABZIAN , N EMAT EBADl ,
AN D RESl DENTS
OF TH E Vl LLAG E OF YABR
Production Supervision by
Sl MAHANG Fl LM COMPANY
Produced by
MAHMOU D CHOKROLLAH I
I've known Mr. Sabzian
for nearly ten years.
We exchange hellos.
He used to pass by here
on his way home.
He always carried movie magazines
and scripts and such .
I 'd ask him why, and he'd say,
"I love cinema."
Then he disappeared for three months.
"Where have you been?"
""I was acting in a film."
"What film?"
"Close-up."
"When will it be showing?"
"Soon ."
A while later we found out
it was showing .
We went to see it
and even rented the videotape.
My view is that
he adored the movies,
so he seized the first opportunity
to be a part of cinema.
I think his great interest
in film explains it.
The film was very instructive.
It showed that, if given a chance,
people can achieve a lot.
I think it was very instructive.
Written and Directed by
MOSLEM MANSOURl
and MAHMOUD CHOKROLLAHI
He'd had a keen interest in movies
since he was five or six.
He'd go to the movies a lot
and eventually thought
of making one himself,
but he had no means,
no money,
so he couldn't go any further.
Then he met this family
who provided
the chance to make a film.
He pretended to be
a famous Iranian film director,
in order to reach his goals,
to express himself.
But unfortunately,
since that wasn't legal ,
he got in trouble for a while.
After that...
another film director met Sabzian
for this film Close-up,
which to some extent reflects
the realities of Sabzian's life,
a person fascinated
since childhood by filmmaking.
Another important point is that
if you look closely,
I don't think any director
has ever attempted
to change the way a person is.
But Sabzian was a new man
by the end of this film.
He came out of his shell
and expressed what was inside him.
Do you know what
Close-up means ?
Not really.
From what I've heard,
it means ""dirty."
Or some kind of filthy water,
as far as I know.
Stagnant water.
That's what Close-up means.
CLOSE-UP
LONG SHOT
Sabzian has been our neighbor
for almost 15 years.
When we moved here,
he was living with his mother.
He had a wife and two kids.
I 'd bought this piece of land
and started building on it.
I asked him
what kind of work he did.
Repairing and binding books,
he said,
and also some activities
in the movie business.
He was always milling about.
I 'd ask why he wasn't working,
and he'd say he was.
Finally his life fell apart.
His wife divorced him
and went back to her folks,
taking one of the kids
and leaving the other with him.
Sabzian stayed
with his mother for a while,
but they couldn't afford
to raise the child.
After a while Sabzian left,
and the child went back
to live with the mother.
She has both of them now.
Hossein isn't around anymore.
He comes and goes.
So that's how it is.
His life fell apart.
The truth is
he can't support his family.
A man should work
and support his family.
If he can't provide
his wife with money,
she'll divorce him
and leave that life.
He's a nice guy,
but not really very normal .
He's a dreamer.
He lives in his fantasies.
He's told so many lies
that people don't listen anymore.
They don't really trust him.
Would you say that
in his presence ?
Yes.
Would you call Mr. Sabzian ?
Mr. Sabzian is a good guy,
but he's not quite normal .
He's a dreamer.
He's dreamed so much
that people often
don't believe him anymore.
If I continue to dream,
it's because my dreams
haven't yet materialized...
because I don't fit
into social norms.
I haven't stepped
out of my fantasies.
I confirm more or less
what he said.
THE CYCLIST
Excuse me,
where did you get that book?
where did you buy that book?
In a bookstore.
- Could you give me the address ?
- You can have it.
You're very kind, but I'd -
Please take it. I wrote it.
You wrote it?
Really?
- Yes.
- You're Mr. Makhmalbaf?
- Yes.
Pleased to meet you.
That's very kind of you.
lf you'd like, I'll autograph it.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
I let my love for cinema
destroy my life...
but I'm still always eager
to see a good film.
It's not important who made it.
Just seeing it
is the important thing.
The cinema lost me my job.
It robbed me of my life...
my social identity.
THE HOLY KORAN
MAKING FILMS IN SUPER 8
But even now, just one good film
and I eagerly turn back to cinema.
If I had the money,
I might, for example,
like Peter Falk,
buy kites so I wouldn't grow up.
The cinema -
Whenever I see a film,
I ""dissolve" myself in it...
to such an extent
that I reach the bottom.
I fade out and perhaps...
I get lost in it.
And this has played
an essential role in my life.
Cinema is important to me.
It's like a prism.
A good film...
is part of my life.
With every good film I see,
I feel reborn .
It feels as if I made it myself,
as if it were my creation .
I identify with the director.
I identify with the actors.
I feel attuned
and in harmony
with the atmosphere of the film.
I feel as if it's my story.
That's how films carry me away.
That's why they've become
my obsession .
If I didn't have to live in society,
I 'd seek shelter in the mountains
and live all by myself.
If I didn't have to go on living,
and were courageous enough ,
I 'd have liked to be hanged
from the beams of cinema.
If I had the courage to protest...
I would use filmmaking
as a tool to fight all injustice.
I saw Close-up several times.
They showed it on TV too.
But that was a kind of fraud.
You can't say he was acting.
It was like some kind of con .
It was of course
quite instructive for young people,
but it wasn't the film
Sabzian had wanted to make
when he impersonated
someone else.
What we saw on TV
seemed like some kind of con .
Personally, I don't think he meant
to cheat those people.
He's a poor, helpless man .
I've seen him around here
for several years.
He's miserable.
The reasons are cultural
and also personal weakness.
There are plenty of others
like him in this country.
There are so many crooks in this world,
and nobody gives a damn .
But when I take 1,900 tomans,
the whole world finds out,
even the late Mitterrand.
When I got on that bus,
I just wanted to publicize the film
by showing the screenplay.
When that lady sat next to me,
I thought I 'd create a little publicity.
I showed her the script,
and she got interested .
She wanted to know more about it,
as the film shows.
Then she suddenly asked
who'd written it, and I said I had,
and she asked
if I was Makhmalbaf.
At that point I could feel
that the clothes I was
about to put on were too tight.
Too tight for me.
But the pleasure that that role
gave me made me continue.
The clothes burst apart
at the very moment I was arrested.
The buttons popped off,
and I emerged.
I wore it in every scene
when I was playing
the part of Makhmalbaf.
But after that,
when I was exposed,
I was uncovered.
And when that happened,
I didn't like myself.
There were no more clothes,
none that fit me.
And then ...
when it was all over,
and I reentered society,
I felt people's eyes on me.
Narrow-minded people
who talked about everything
but my enthusiasm
for the movies.
What I did wasn't minor -
tell the whole world about it -
but that irrational act
proved my love for film.
I'm satisfied...
because I made
one of my dreams come true.
I was Makhmalbaf for four days.
I remember Orson Welles's
advice to his students
who wondered how to find
the money for their films.
"Steal it", he said.
"At least you'll fulfill your hopes."
Who's to blame?
I may be one of cinema's victims.
I intended to devour cinema,
and it ended up devouring me.
It didn't appreciate me.
I still advise all cinema lovers...
that if they can't achieve their dreams,
the way I see it,
do as Orson Welles said:
""Steal the money."
Just steal it.
- Mr. Sabzian ?
- Yes.
- Detained for?
- Attempted fraud.
Attempted fraud.
You have a visitor.
Hello.
- How are you?
- Fine, thanks.
- You know who I am?
- Sure.
I read an article about you
and decided to come see you.
I see.
In what newspaper?
- It was a magazine.
I read that
you're interested in film,
so since I'm a filmmaker,
I wanted to talk to you.
- And you are. . . ?
- Kiarostami.
Ah, right.
I'm surprised.
I've seen your films.
- You have ?
ls there anything
I can do for you?
You could make a film
about my suffering.
We worked in the same shop
15 or 18 years ago.
Hossein was crazy about movies.
He spent all his time on them.
His heart wasn't in his work.
Night and day,
from dawn to dusk,
his goal was to go
to the studios
and get actors' autographs.
He had no interest in the work.
I did and , thank God ,
the business is doing well .
As for Hossein ,
his situation needs no comment.
He sacrificed everything
for the movies:
his wife, his children ,
his whole life.
His heart isn't in his work.
He works here sometimes.
Since we worked together before...
I just want to help him out a little.
He works occasionally.
Whenever you ask,
he says he was at the movies.
At work he talks
about movies the whole time,
and he distracts the others.
He wastes his time,
and their time too.
I can't fire him.
I 'd feel bad .
After all , we were coworkers.
He's older than me.
His life is just what you see.
He owns only the clothes
on his back.
I don't think he has a steady job.
How about his love
for the movies ?
I wouldn't call it love.
It's insanity.
Someone who sacrifices
his family, his life,
everything for the movies -
that's not love, that's insanity.
This bookbindery I work in
belongs to Mr. Nemat.
He used to work for me.
He was under me.
Well , he worked hard,
and now he owns the business.
But I stuck to the movies.
I continued to pursue my interest,
and now I work for him.
The only thing
the movies did for me
was to portray me
as a con artist.
If that's the case,
everyone's a con artist.
That family wanted
to use Mohsen Makhmalbaf
to gain prestige.
That's a kind of con .
Maybe I toyed with their feelings,
but their actions
speak for themselves.
Or that reporter
who wanted to break the story
so he could become
another Oriana Fallaci ,
using me as his bridge,
his stepladder to success -
that's another kind of con .
Even Kiarostami himself, who heard
of my case through that reporter...
found an interesting subject,
and won international acclaim for it.
When you think of it, he conned me.
He's a con artist too.
I think that...
Close-up depicts the natural cou rse
of events I set in motion .
For example,
I promised that family
that they would appear in a film.
Well , they did.
What I said happened.
And when I saw
Kiarostami at work,
I noticed that the direction
I 'd been giving
was no different from his.
The family listened to him
the way they'd listened to me.
There was no difference between
how he directed and how I did.
I felt numb sitting there.
None of it was of interest to me.
They were all in collusion .
Please cut.
Could you give us
your comments about Close-up?
I think Close-up is
the true version of Les miserables,
and my brother
is like Jean Valjean ,
who, for a stale piece of bread,
will have to bear this shame forever.
But I think
there are lots of Jean Valjeans
around if you look.
But only a few are honest,
and my brother is one of them.
Not only is Close-up
not a real close-up view,
but its only artistic feature
is to depict
the misery, shortcomings,
and unkindness of people.
That's the only ""close-up"
to this film.
Close-up is like
both sides of a coin .
It was positive and negative
at the same time.
It was good that it was made,
because I had something to say,
as I mentioned in the film -
that film can be
a medium to express
the ills and challenges
that face a society.
But on the other hand,
when I was back
in the ""city of the pygmies" -
to use your expression -
those who can't see
beyond their nose,
I felt like an outsider.
I had to descend to their level .
That was very hard for me.
It has nothing to do
with geographic location .
Whether they live here in Yabr,
or in wealthy neighborhoods,
it makes no difference.
There are plenty of ""pygmies"
there too.
I've seen lots of them.
But there are those among them
who got the message of the film.
Insofar as Close-up
found its audience,
and they liked it,
that wasn't bad for me,
since they didn't react negatively to me.
But some people
were irritated by the film,
and that was hard for me.
You know,
80% of people are like that,
and we live among them.
How can I ...
convince them
of how things really are?
Do you agree
that 80% of people are common
and that only 20%...
think differently,
or look at things
from a different angle?
We have to live
among these people, like it or not.
They don't see the details.
They only see
the surface of the film.
If they took a deeper look,
we wouldn't have run
into some of these problems.
If Close-up hadn't been made,
I 'd have had to keep going on my own ,
like Nassim in The Cyclist.
He kept on pedaling ,
though the contest was over.
The contest was over,
but he just had to go on .
I 'd have had to do the same,
at least for my own sake.
Because of what happened,
I had no other way to go.
I 'd have come to a standstill ,
so I 'd have gone on on my own .
Or perhaps I 'd have immersed myself
in a kind of nostalgia, my loneliness.
I think that
when it comes to real love,
there's always helplessness,
failure, and disappointment.
Everything Hossein's
been through
shows his love for the movies.
His lack of direction ,
his not fighting for his rights,
are a sign of his love.
That's the best proof
of his love for cinema.
I think people who are like me,
who think like me,
are melting away like snow.
They have no place
to express themselves.
There are horizontal corpses
and vertical corpses.
Perhaps we're the second kind.
I imagined Makhmalbaf
to be like Nassim in The Cyclist.
When I met him...
he treated me all right,
but I had the impression
that I'd like him better
if I kepi my distance.
How old are you?
I'm 42.
I was born in 1954.
Tell us a little
about your childhood.
who was Sabzian
before Close-up?
The foundation
for our personality is usually laid
during childhood.
According to Thomas Harris,
our character is shaped
during the first five years
of our lives
and reveals itself later.
The connection between
my childhood and the movies
is that one day
my father took me by the hand...
and we went
to the Lalehzar Theater
to see The Bride of the Sea,
starring Vigen .
There my father put my hand
in cinema's hand.
My father let go of my hand,
but cinema never did.
I held its hand tight,
and said hello to cinema
for the first time.
I remember...
that as a schoolboy,
I skipped school for three months.
Every day...
I 'd take my books
and go to the movies.
Sometimes
they wouldn't let me in .
Before going home
in the evening ,
I 'd write essays
and grade them with As.
I 'd mark them up
like the teacher would have done,
to avoid suspicion .
This went on for months.
We were living
in lsfahan at the time.
I skipped school for three months,
until they caught on .
My mother took me to school ,
and I was whipped
because of my movie-going.
That's what
they used to do at the time.
Back home
I promised not to do it again ,
and they said
I should think of my future.
Then one day my mother
gave me money to buy gasoline.
I hid the gas can in the bath room
and used the money to go see
Hell at My Feet.
I watched the film
during the fi rst show...
but during the second screening
I ""flashed forward"
and saw my father giving me
a terrible beating.
The fear of that beating
nailed me to my seat.
Du ring the next screening,
I was consumed with fear
and couldn't absorb
anything from the film.
I was overcome with fear.
I stayed like that for a while,
until the last show.
This was
at the I ran Cinema in lsfahan .
When the last
of the audience left,
I pretended to have to use
the restroom and hid in there.
Then I went back in the theater
and fell asleep
on one of the seats,
in some kind of purgatory.
A janitor found me
early the next morning
and asked
what I was doing there
and why I wasn't at home.
I told him about my interest in film.
I stayed away from home
for three months.
I was afraid to go back.
I stayed at a friend's house
until my family found me
and took me back home.
My father gave me another lecture
and a terrible beating.
He said to come work with him,
that he would take me to the movies
himself on weekends.
For instance, I remember...
it was cinema
that made my father
take me for an outing
one weekend.
I had no idea where we were going.
We went
to one of his friends' house.
After a while...
the host -
There were
about ten people there,
including the host's son ,
seated next to his father.
The host started telling us
how great his son was.
I didn't know
what it was all about.
Then my father
asked him for advice.
""What should we do?"
I still didn't know
what was going on .
Our host took us all
down to the basement.
We were in lsfahan at the time.
That's where
I saw most of the films.
In the middle of the basement...
I saw a stool ...
turned upside down .
They all stood around.
Mr. Shirazi stepped forward
and pushed me.
I fell back into the stool ...
with my legs sticking up.
His son was laughing.
Everyone was laughing.
Mr. Shirazi said they had
to teach me a lesson .
They had these switches,
and they all took turns
whipping me with them.
That was a bit of a blow
to my self-confidence.
After that...
I was afraid of people around me.
But I'm not anymore.
Unconsciously maybe,
but not in the same way.
All I can do
is curse the movies.
They robbed me of my childhood.
But I've come to think
that today's cinema,
which I consider
an advanced cinema,
is simply color and form.
That's enough .
Exactly half my life
was spent in the dark.
My life itself was in the dark.
I've never seen my life in focus.
It's all been a blurred image.
Financially speaking ,
I spent money to buy tickets.
In terms of years,
I spent my time.
And psychologically speaking,
I sold my soul to cinema.
So that's how
I spent the best hours
of my childhood...
in the dark.
It's the child in me
who gives the orders.
The adult may be ti red,
but he obeys.
Because of my early days...
the child always surfaces.
One interpretation is that
the adult is scared of him.
When the adult shows himself...
it's a defense mechanism...
to protect me from my father...
and from the conflicts I've repressed.
It's a means of self-protection .
You'd need a long time...
to dissect me.
I may be a small man ,
but I'm deep.
The more you dig,
the deeper it goes.
Nobody's reached bottom yet.
My anguish prevents me...
from revealing myself.
Childhood fears.
I may sound self-satisfied,
but I believe Jean-Paul Sartre
when he says,
""if a cripple doesn't win the race,
he has only himself to blame."
In Close-up, I was scared in that house,
but the child was with me.
The adult in me
was on the alert...
but the playful child kept going.
I may be too arrogant.
I don't know.
But I don't care.
What you call multiple personalities...
isn't multiple to me.
It's just a life without harmony.
Sometimes the forces reconcile.
Sometimes
they encourage each other,
and sometimes
they antagonize each other,
and this humiliates the child in me,
so I feel like a victim.
But sometimes
the child jumps for joy.
I don't know what you're up to.
What are your intentions?
Which Sabzian
are you trying to reach?
The one always seen
from a high-angle shot?
Or the one constantly
in a tilt shot?
Or the one in a pan shot?
In any case,
I like all that movement.
It doesn't bother me
as long as I'm in the picture.
Sohrab Sepehri says, ""I knew a donkey
who understood the hay."
I may not understand the hay,
but I'm happy to be a donkey.
I even relish it.
I'm all for it,
watching from the outside.
I've reached a state
of mental constipation .
I sound like I'm on a soapbox.
Let's cut.
Cinematography by
FARZlN KHOSROWSHAHI
Edited by
NASROLLAH SH E I BAN I
Sound by
BAHMAN H E I DARl
Music by
SHAH ROKH KHADJ ENOU Rl
Sound Assistant
DJAVAD MOG HADASSl
Production Manager
SHAH RAM ZAH EDl
Featu ring HOSSE I N SABZIAN ,
FATEMEH SABZIAN , N EMAT EBADl ,
AN D RESl DENTS
OF TH E Vl LLAG E OF YABR
Production Supervision by
Sl MAHANG Fl LM COMPANY
Produced by
MAHMOU D CHOKROLLAH I