Abbas Kiarostami’s gift is his ability to elicit feelings in his audience from the inside out; he sneaks into our subconscious, plants a seed that germinates and grows slowly—at his pace, specifically—and eventually flourishes into a flood of emotion, meditation, and self-reflection, sometimes long after the credits have rolled. Kiarostami’s proclivity for creating multi-layered cinema—both thematically and visually—results in films that inherently ask of us that we invest significant energy into deciphering them. He rewards us for it. Like Someone in Love might initially feel elusive and trying, but the more you give of yourself to the movie, the more it gives back. As you begin to peel back the layers of the film, the themes and ideas grow more vivid, more potent, and more personal. It’s a fulfilling, delicate process that makes each individual’s experience with the film unique.

Rin Takanashi plays a young call girl who is dispatched by her assertive boss to service a man he respects, the learned and elderly Tadashi Okuno. When she arrives, it’s apparent that Okuno isn’t looking for the typical call girl experience—he warmly chats with her, cooks her dinner, and puts her to bed, without joining her. In the morning, Okuno drives her to school, where he encounters her unstable boyfriend (Ryo Kase), whose jealousy explodes into anger and violence.

Much like Kiarostami’s brilliant Certified Copy, to describe the plot or events that occur during the film doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what the film actually is. However, unlike Certified Copy’s enigmatic 100-minute act, Like Someone in Love’s characters participate in less mysterious—though equally telling—mini-masquerades. Kase mistakes Okuno for Takanashi’s grandfather when they first meet, and Okuno plays along. A lady mistakes Takanashi for Okuno’s granddaughter, and she plays along as well. In these moments, the characters find it easier to slip into the roles projected on them rather than correct or reject the presumption, which speaks volumes. Though it’s clear that the two are virtually strangers, these small moments of play-acting ironically illustrate just how real their connection is. They need each other, or at least they like the idea.

The pacing of the film is challenging at times, but the jaw-dropping visuals are sure to pull you through to the end. Kiarostami’s understanding of light, color, and composition are on full display here. He exhibits a mastery of every technique he employs. Take the opening scene, for example. Takanashi is sitting in a beautifully lit, bustling night club; the colors sing and the shadows are thick. He brilliantly plays with the typical shot-reverse-shot setup by making one of the subjects an empty chair, which different characters occasionally sit in. It’s a refreshing take on the convention. He also utilizes smooth-as-silk superimposed imagery as a storytelling device; he overlays a reflection of Takanashi’s boss over her through a window, as if he is haunting her. These techniques work harmoniously and are breathtaking when combined.

In an early, heart-wrenching scene, Takanashi is in a cab late at night as she listens to voicemails from her grandmother that she has ignored all day. Her grandmother has come to visit, and tells Takanashi that she has been waiting for her at the train station for over twelve hours. Takanashi puts on an exquisite wordless performance as the voicemails grow increasingly heartbreaking. Grandma never once complains about being stood up. We eventually circle the train station and see a tiny figure in the distance from inside the cab. We squint to see more clearly. Is it the grandmother? Kiarostami plays the audience like a fiddle like only a great director can.

Like Someone in Love’s finale is unfortunately uninspiring and jarring. Certified Copy contains a similarly ambiguous ending, though it feels more open and invites interpretation. The ending here is more confusing than anything, and unfortunately dampens a mostly great experience. Kiarostami’s latest is a treat for the eyes, ears, mind and soul. It might test your patience, and the ending might leave a bad taste in your mouth, but it will undoubtedly find a place in your head, sit there for a while, and one day, you might just fall in love with it. In the meantime, you’ll surely want to talk about it.

War Witch follows our heroin Komona over three years starting at the age of twelve. The small community she belonged to get raided by a rebel army. The unthinkable occurs when she is forced to kill her own parents. Shortly after that the army brainwashes the kids into killing machines.

Some parts worked better than others, in particular the middle part (thirteen years old) was busy setting up the plot that it got away from the things that worked the best. But it remained a very touching and powerful film. Komona went through more difficult situations by the age of fourteen than most people endure in their lifetime. I guess you could say that it is an inspiring film despite showing depressing scenes majority of the time. The film was hard to watch at times but compelling nonetheless. Rachel Mwanza was astounding in the lead role and the cinematography in War Witch was spot on.

RATING: 7.4/10

War Witch

Following War Witch was the famous Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone In Love. Having been told what to expect from his previous work, I knew that I was in store for a slow burning film. The fact that the film was delayed after I had been standing in line for an hour was par for the course.

By far my two favorite parts of the film were it’s very beginning and the very end. It begins at a Tokyo bar where we hear the voice of a woman fighting on the phone with her boyfriend. During this time the camera is focused on a group of other people in the background. When the camera does pan to the woman talking it is clear that she is lying about where she is. Her boyfriend seems over-protective but it is probably because he has been tipped off that she is an escort. Although, she denies it to him, she is an escort who is about to be sent on a special trip to an elderly professor.

As I mentioned the very beginning and end where the parts that seemed to work best for me but it was everything in between that could have been better. Part of the problem was that the pace of Like Someone In Love could have been kicked up a notch or two. The film was handled with extreme care and meticulously shot so it was evident there was a veteran filmmaker beyond the camera. I suspect our writer CJ will give this a watch and chime in with his thoughts.

RATING: 6.6/10

Like Someone In Love

My last film of Day 2 was After Lucia, which I sensed could be a film with a ton of potential considering the subject matter and that it won the Un Certain Regard prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. And I can see why. It is an unsetting film about a teenager named Alejandra that just moved to a new town after her mother passed away. Her school life quickly becomes a nightmare when a video of her having sex leaks out to everyone at her school. She becomes chastised and bullied by everyone in her class.

After Lucia is a gut-wrenching film where no one wins unless you count the audience. It is emotionally disturbing because even the silver lining is depressing; a good person doing bad things to a bad person for a (relatively) good cause. It sounds much more confusing than it really is. You could tell that After Lucia had an affect on the audience as you practically heard everyone wince and shift in their chairs. There were a couple of questionable actions (and frankly lack of action) that occur but that does not prevent the impact of the film. After Lucia has been the best film I have seen so far at the Chicago International Film Festival.

RATING: 7.8/10

After Lucia

COMING UP: Tomorrow I will be seeing Flowerbuds which earned 4 top Czech Lions (the Czech Oscars) and Ulrich Seidl’s controversial Paradise: Love.

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Chicago International Film Festival!

For me today is probably the strongest day of films which includes; WAR WITCH, LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE, and AFTER LUCIA. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

WAR WITCH: Some parts worked better than others but it was still touching and powerful film. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

Rain clouds are hiding the #chicago skyscrapers. twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

Welp LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE is delayed. Even the wait time to see it is slow. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

You could tell that AFTER LUCIA had an affect on the audience. Affective cinema. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 14, 2012