Abbas Kiarostami’s first European outing is elegant, playfully cerebral and – after recent austere ventures – surprisingly accessible.
Like a highbrow Before Sunrise, it follows Juliette Binoche’s capricious gallery owner as she persuades a stuffy Brit author (sensitively played by newcomer William Shimell) on a Tuscan day trip.
Ostensibly discussing authenticity in art, they tip intriguingly into poignant play-acting as a quarrelsome long-married couple.
In a movie of ceaseless mirroring (Tuscany flickering on their windscreen, lovers threading around them), are they a facsimile or the real deal?
Kiarostami keeps us guessing, while Binoche drives the movie with a performance that earned her Cannes’ Best Actress award.
