“A man, a dog, a villa… you think you can capture reality, especially in here?” Like 2011’s This Is Not a Film, Closed Curtain was made in secret, in defiance of a 20-year ban imposed on Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi in 2010. It’s a troubling piece that confronts both depression (suicide is a recurrent theme) and creativity. Fellow film-maker Kambuzia Partovi plays a writer, hiding his dog from a canine cull, whose home is invaded by a brother and sister – fugitives or spies? What begins as an allegory of imprisonment and state repression mutates into something more Pirandellian when Panahi himself appears, directing the action and seemingly losing faith in his characters. “Making these films is illegal,” protested the Iranian authorities when Closed Curtain won best screenplay at Berlin in 2013. Thankfully, Panahi has proved unstoppable and this year scooped the Golden Bear for his latest film, Taxi, released here next month. Bravo!
