The Actor
One of my Iranian co-workers said that he disliked Kiarostami. Another one sent me a list of his movie rankings with almost 600 movies, of which “Taste of Cherry” is in the 100s, “Where is the friend’s home?” is in the 300s and “Homework” in the 500s. In comparison to that, two Makhmalbaf films he saw were both in the 400s, but then again I don’t know any of those movies anyways. I think that does not really bode well for Makhmalbaf whose films I am only interested in because of “Close-up”. It may also not be a great idea to just watch one of his films because it is conveniently available on MUBI, instead of making a more sophisticated choice. But then again, some directors have lots of famous stuff but the real gem is a film that people all overlook; I am especially thinking of Lars von Trier’s “The boss of it all” and Hitchcock’s “The trouble with Harry”. It might have been that “The Actor” is Makhmalbaf’s masterpiece precisely because it is not his most famous work. I wanted luck to be on my side.
Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn’t – I might never know because it’s unlikely I will see one of his films again. I realize that he is influential and a part of me was really afraid that all of his movies end up being brainy and overly artistic. Despite my love for “Close-up” I usually dread these overly thoughtful combinations of reality and fiction and that is apparently what Makhmalbaf is best in. I am also a little disturbed by how his wife and both daughters are artsy filmmakers too… I just think it’s strange? He seems to be the director who revels in his fame, and I was wondering if it would show in the movie.
It didn’t. For the most part, “The Actor” is a rather amusing comedy with an interesting premise and good actors. Many details about the film make it likable: the style of the protagonist’s house (how awesome is this stage-like apartment?), the random dream-like sequence with the wife in the middle of the film, the references to Charlie Chaplin and other old films. It is unfortunate that these pleasant elements are often overshadowed by less pleasant ones, especially the tendency of all characters to loudly complain and scream at each other. Why must they be like that? Most strangely, the story became confusing towards the second half. After the premise was set up nicely, all of a sudden I didn’t quite understand some of the scenes anymore. Around the middle of the film, it was established that the wife was pregnant and they want to get rid of the new wife, but then husband goes on this quasi-meaningful road trip with the new girl? What exactly is going on? It was only in the last 5 minutes that I felt like I knew what was happening again. The little twist at the end was a lot of fun and gave the film’s title a whole new meaning. I liked that she revealed herself, left and kept the money.
Not really recommended.