Kiarostami's actors: from the Iranian world to the Italian proscenium stage

Abstract

This article investigates the particular work of the actors in the film Certified copy (Copie conforme, 2010), by Abbas Kiarostami. The film, shot in Italy, is very different from the Iranian filmograhy of the director, in which the cast was almost always formed by non professional actors, whose lives were, at times, mingled with the films' narratives. In Certified copy, however, the cast is formed by an international star (Juliette Binoche) and by an opera singer (William Shimell). Evidently, they both play parts that do not get mixed with their actual lives, but their characters' mobility of identities echo, in a way, the work of acting. We will investigate how Kiarostami worked with his actors in Iran and in Italy – trying to grasp the transformation that occurred in this passage –, and how these works differently shape the films.