Cannes 2012 Official Selection Preview - ライク・サムワン・イン・ラブ Like Someone in Love by Abbas Kiarostami

With a unique style Kiarostami absolutely challenges viewers by playing with our expectations and provoking our imagination. His style is magnificently unpretentious poetic and with a not-always clear philosophical vision that only stimulates more the imagination. That's what I expect from Like Someone in Love, the same expectations I had for Copie Conforme (Certified Copy) that were fulfilled above my highest expectations as you can see in my review here.

If you watch gorgeous trailer here and think about the following synopsis I'm sure that your imagination will start to fly in whatever direction you feel like. But be assured that when watching film anything could be possible and most likely will not resemble what you imagined.

An old man and a young woman meet in Tokyo. She knows nothing about him, he thinks he knows her. He welcomes her into his home, she offers him her body. But the web that is woven between them in the space of twenty four hours bears no relation to the circumstances of their encounter.

I know that visuals in his films are outstanding but have to admit that Kiarostami captures me with his narrative, his stories and his storytelling technique grab me so much that visuals go to a second place which is unusual as I'm a very visual cinema lover. But I do expect great visuals from this movie and the following images plus trailer tell me that I will get them.



Kiarostami in Cannes

Kiarostami and Cannes have a long history that started in 1992 with Zendegi Edame Darad (Life, and Nothing More...) at the Un Certain Regard section, came back in 1994 with Zire Darakhtan Zeyton (Though the Olive Trees) in competition for the Palme and his story is so long that just let me share that has been in competition 4 times, this film is his fifth. He won (ex aequo with Shôhei Imamura's Unagi) the Palme d'Or in 1997 with fabulous Ta'm e Guilass (Taste of Cherry).

Can't say that have seen all his films, it's very hard to find his earlier Iranian movies, but from the ones I have seen and his history at Cannes, plus Certified Copy not winning the Palme d'Or in 2010 (but Juliette Binoche winning Best Actress) and this film looking/feeling very similar I believe that he will not get a major award. Still inside my deepest self I hope this time he gets a more than deserved recognition.

Film Specs
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami
Written by Abbas Kiarostami
Former known as: The End
Starring: Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno, Ryō Kase
Nationality: Majority Japan (France, Japan)
Filming locations: Tokyo, Japan
Runtime: 109 minutes
Production year: 2011

End Notes
Movie at Cannes site go here.
Kiarostami in Cannes go here.
Mk2 go here.