Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy'

Abbas Kiarostami is a filmmaker who knows how to question reality, to the point that certainties gradually become ambiguous and vague. Certified Copy, his latest film, tests our ability to decipher a truth from a copy, or imitation, of that truth.

The story is set in a town in Tuscany. An antiques dealer identified only as Elle, or "She" (played by Juliette Binoche), drops in on a talk being given by an author named James Miller (William Shimell), who has written a book on art.

His book, titled the same as the movie, has been translated into Italian (Copia conforme). The gist of his thesis is that it doesn't matter whether you own an original artwork or a copy— its meaning, power, impact and significance will be the same.

Playing gender roles

The film's plot proceeds to test that proposition, not with a work of art but with the interpersonal relationship and social institution of marriage. Over coffee in a café, Elle makes a play for Miller. He seems aware of her intentions, but he's absorbed in his work— a solid defense against risking commitment.

When Miller has to step out to answer a cell phone call, the café owner's wife talks to Elle about gender roles in marriage. Clearly, the hostess has mistaken Miller for the woman's husband, but Elle quickly picks up on the idea and acts it out when Miller returns.

He reciprocates, and they begin to create a copy of a marriage. ("Conforme" seems to suggest something "conforming" to an original, a bit more relaxed than the essence of the English word "certified," which indicates the stamp of some authority, at least to me.)

Stripped and exhausted

Their date turns into a Battle of the Sexes, fought with rudeness, courteous but cutting sarcasm, bursts of tenderness and reconciliations— a range of strategies, rebuttals and forgiving surprises that anyone who has spent time as part of a couple will recognize.

By the end, Elle and Miller are physically and emotionally exhausted, seemingly stripped to the core of their personalities without the strength to pretend any longer.

One last maneuver

But Elle has one last maneuver— her ultimate test of his book's theory. They are in a hotel room where, she claims to recall, they spent their married night 15 years earlier. Doesn't he remember?

Elle tries to prompt Miller's memory by asking him to look out the window and recollect the familiar scene. If he buys into the impression that he had been there before, with her, then he will have "certified" their (so to speak) copied marriage, proven his thesis and filled the emptiness of his life.

The film offers a variation on the concept of "Be careful what you wish for; you may get it." Here, it's "Be careful what ideas you profess; you may be forced to live by them."

Movie vs. real life

In a larger sense, Certified Copy itself is a copy of what occurs in real life. The film is superior to the real thing in the sense that it is contained, organized and less messy. It can be understood and explained in a way that real life, with its inherent chaos, can't be fully apprehended.

And that's why the film— the copy— is superior to life. Its complexity gives you a sense of the complexity of life. And if you can't figure out in this short film where reality is, how could you possibly figure it out in your own life, or in anyone else's?