Series | Eurasian Studies
Edited book | Borders
Chapter | Certified Copy
Certified Copy
The Thin Line between Original and Original
Abstract
The window and the mirror have often represented, in the history of cinema theories, two different ways to deal with the nature of vision: the first pledging to be the instrument to point to reality and the world, and the second appearing as a magnet, attracting, absorbing and redoubling individual subjectivities. In two short but meaningful sequences of Copie conforme (Certified Copy) Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami resolves this dicotomy, depriving both objects of their primary function: the window does not show and the mirror does not reflect. Dealing with the theorical and practical consequences of this choice, which is read through the critical lenses of scholars such as Metz, Deleuze, Eco and Merleau-Ponty, the boundary spaces which separate and unite on-screen and off-screen, filmic and non-filmic, diegetic and non-diegetic, screen and theatre, copy and original are explored, especially when the camera takes the place of the mirror.
Language: en
Keywords Mirrors in Movies • Abbas Kiarostami • Iranian Cinema • Philosophy and Film
Copyright © 2016 Marco Dalla Gassa. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/978-88-6969-100-3/014
