in 2020 i set out to watch at least a film a day. spoiler: i didn't. i did managed to get just over 250 under my belt, which was a lot more than i thought possible given that i was working 44h a week at the time. one of the 34 films i watched in april (look, i was working remotely during that month. there's a lot o can accomplish when no one's watching me do my thing and i don't have to spend two hours a day on a bus) was certified copy.
i wasn't familiar with kiarostami's work. i saw it on richard ayoade's criterion closet video and decided to give it a chance. To be quite honest i wasn't really impressed during the first half of it. but halfway through it i felt like someone had flipped a switch in my brain. it's a very particular scene; you'll know it when you watch it.
it starts as a wonderful conversation on the meaning of originality, and then evolves into an exploration on the main characters' relationship, dancing on the line between fact and fiction. kiarostami was a master on the art of dialogue and metalanguage, and certified copy is just another example of it (check out the koker trilogy if you love this kind of stuff). it kickly became my favourite film, and every time i rewatch it i spend a few hours processing it.