Abbas Kiarostami
The Taste of Cherry follows Mr. Badii, a taxi driver, and his quest to find a passenger who will happily bury him once he has committed suicide. Although it is never explained why. You’ll need a lot of patience to watch this film. The audience waits with questions, in a series of long taxi rides, wondering if they are ever going to be answered.
Ultimately, the questions are never answered. It’s never revealed if our protagonist dies. Or why he wants to. Instead, when Mr. Badii is waiting for death in his grave, Kiarostami breaks the fourth wall and zooms out to show the film crew. This can hardly be classified as a cliff-hanger, but definitely leaves the viewer pondering. In a moment of seconds, we leave the narrative we’ve been following for so long, and wonder if it includes a part of Kiarostami.
Taste of Cherry
director ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
year 1997
director of photography HOMAYUN PAYVAR
cast HOMAYOUN ERSHADI, ABDOLRAHMAN BAGHERI, AFSHIN KHORSHID BAKHTIARI and SAFAR ALI MORADI
words PRIYESH PATEL
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