Certified Copy (2010)

Certified Copy (French: Copie conforme) is a 2010 film by Iranian writer and director Abbas Kiarostami, starring Juliette Binoche and the British opera singer William Shimell, in his first film role. The film is set in Tuscany, and focuses on a British writer and a French antiques dealer, whose relationship undergoes an odd transformation over the course of a day. The film was a French-majority production, with co-producers in Italy and Belgium. The dialogue is in French, English and Italian. The film premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, where Binoche won the Best Actress Award for her performance. Critics have been mostly positive and have compared the film to several others, notably Roberto Rosselini's 1954 film Journey to Italy.

British writer James Miller (Shimell) is in Tuscany to give a talk about his new book, also called "Certified Copy", which argues that, in art, issues of authenticity are irrelevant, because every reproduction is itself an original and vice versa. A French antiques dealer, whose name is never given (Binoche), attends the talk with her 11-year-old son in order to have Miller sign the copies she has bought of the book, but has to leave early because her son is hungry. She drops off her phone number with Miller's translator. Miller and the woman then meet at her shop, and Miller suggests they get out and see some of the countryside. The woman drives them around aimlessly while Miller signs the books, and they talk about the book's subject. They then visit a museum, and the woman gets increasingly distraught as she complains about her rebellious son and Miller seems to defend her son's behavior. They then go to a cafe. Miller steps out to take a phone call, and the woman who owns the cafe, thinking Miller is the woman's husband, gets into a conversation with the woman about marriage and about him specifically. After Miller returns and the two leave the cafe, the nature of their discussion changes: they start to speak in a combination of French and English instead of just English (Miller states that he learned the language in school), and, more unexpectedly, they now speak as if they truly are a married couple, who have been married for 15 years, and the son is both of theirs. It is left unclear which, if either, is the true reality of the film.