10 on Ten

2004
MK2 SA
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Length: 83 min.
Format: DVD
Date Viewed: 14 January

Abbas Kiarostami gives what he calls a "cinema master class" in this making-of piece that was created for the French DVD release of Ten, and it appears on the American release as well, though perhaps five minutes shorter than the theatrical and French version. Essentially, the director drives in his jeep and talks to the camera for 83 minutes on ten topics related to film production (the camera, the director, the actors, etc.). It's easy to agree with some of his ideas and philosophies, easy to disagree with others (video is not better than film; sorry, Abbas), and yet others are merely thought-provoking, if hard to agree or disagree with (American films sent abroad are more destructive than the American military - a statement he hopefully won't have to put to the test in the near future). This is an interesting film for those who want to be filmmakers, as there are some good nuggets of information to be mined, but it's best to see it only after first watching Ten, and being prepared for a bit of tedium.