Like Someone in Love

A neon-and-glass Tokyo hipster bar may seem a long way from the time-forgotten Iranian villages of Kiarostami’s earlier films, but the great director’s last narrative feature finds many of his concerns the same, capturing how humans move within and are shaped by landscapes and how cinema blurs the line between reality and performance. Here, individuals blur that line just as easily, as our three characters try on new roles depending on their audience: a young student turned escort, or granddaughter, or lover; an older professor turned protector, or fool; and a young man turned respectful suitor, lover, or threat.