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Life imitating art? Or is it all just an act?

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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.

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Freelance Writer

Kate is a freelance film journalist and critic. Her bylines have appeared online and in print for GamesRadar, Total Film, the BFI, Sight & Sounds, and WithGuitars.com.