Taste of Cherry - Criterion Collection

Starring:Homayon Ershadi, Abdolrahman Bagheri, Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari, Safar Ali Moradi, Mir Hossein Noori, Ahmad Ansari
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Studio: Criterion
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami won the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for this contemplative film about a Muslim, Mr. Badi (Homayon Ershadi), who drives around the barren hills outside Tehran, flagging down passersby and offering good money for a simple job that he's hesitant to explain. He's planning his suicide and seeks someone to perform something of a symbolic eulogy. Most of his subjects refuse (personal morality aside, suicide is forbidden to Muslims), but he finds an elderly taxidermist (Abdolrahman Bagheri) who agrees only because he needs the money for an ill child. Yet the old man gently pleads with him to choose life, to embrace the joys of earthly existence, to remember the taste of cherries. Though initially greeted with critical acclaim, A Taste of Cherry received poor distribution in the U.S. The meandering, deliberately paced drama is composed of long conversations and long silences, and the camera is locked in the car for entire sequences, staring at the protagonists in still closeups with the dusty landscape rolling past the windows of the Land Rover in the background. Kiarostami's film is not for everyone, but if you can embrace the quiet power and grace of his deceptively simple style, the film becomes a remarkably rich celebration of human dignity and resilience. By the astonishing conclusion we can see past Badi's age-etched face to the soul peering out from behind his sad eyes. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami's Taste of Cherry is an emotionally complex meditation on life and death. Middle-aged Mr. Badii (Homayoun Ershadi) drives through the hilly outskirts of Tehran-searching for someone to rescue or bury him. Criterion is proud to present the DVD premiere of Taste of Cherry in a beautiful widescreen transfer.

Customer Reviews:

Sweet Fruit.......2007-05-23

The plot of Kiarostami's 1997 film Taste of Cherry can be summed up on one sentence: Mr. Badii wants to die, but he cannot find anyone to help assist him in his suicide. The film opens with Mr. Badii driving along in his Range Rover across the dry and dusty Iranian landscape, passing by several men looking for jobs as daytime laborers. Listening closely, Mr. Badii tries to overhear the conversations, especially those who are suffering financial hardship, so he can find his man to assist him. It seems that a number of individuals find Mr. Badii a bit suspect, because they answer him with almost open hostility when he offers them an easy job for good pay. Maybe it is because such a job would damage their egos, but it also might be the case that they believe the middle-aged man is gay and trying to pick them up. However, Mr. Badii is eventually able to pick up a young soldier from Kurdistan and it is during their conversation that we learn of Mr. Badii's desire to die. He does not want to take his life in a violent fashion nor does he want his helper to actually have any thing to do with the actual suicide. He just wants to have someone check to see if he is dead or not and if so, to cover him with twenty spades of dirt, but, as is almost immediately evident, the task of finding someone to help him die proves to be quite difficult.

I had heard of Kiarostami's films for a number of years before my girlfriend recommended that I watch this film last year. Being my first Kiarostami film, and also my first Iranian film, I really did not know what to expect, but I must say that I found this film to be one of the most quiet and meditative films on the subjects of life, death, and suicide that I have ever seen. Most of the action takes place within the confines of Mr. Badii's Range Rover and these sequences generally consist of long shots directed on the speaker. Mr. Badii and his companion are rarely in the same shot because Kiarostami was normally within the other seat filming. For those who do like films that consist mainly of talking heads, this film will probably not float your boat. The critic Roger Ebert said it was one of the worst films of all time, but if you want to see a film about desperation and about what limits some individuals will go to free themselves from pain, grief, and the mere hardships of being alive, Taste of Cherry might strike a chord. However, be forewarned, the ending might leave your mind boggled or infuriated.

inexplicably good.......2007-04-18

I'm afraid this is one of those films that you just have to see. No attempt at paraphrase or rhetoric can add to what's already there on the screen. You might want to talk about the technical features, the lack of music, the point of view shots in the car, the beautifully desolate views of the hills around Tehran,the ambiguity of the ending - it's all just noise in my opinion. This film (like any other of true quality) is not what people say about it. It's to be experienced. You have a feeling of being taken somewhere else for 95 minutes, even though the realist feel should rightfully keep you grounded - somehow it has an element which uplifts you. I was extremely happy and alive for the rest of the day after seeing this - perhaps surprising considering the subject matter. I don't know anything about Mr Kiarostami (aside from his reputation) or the actors involved, but I am so glad I watched this film and look forward eagerly to see another of his.

Engaging.......2006-02-06

When I first saw this movie I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I was obviously touched by this movie and at the same time I agreed with the critics that it was a bit slow. But I couldn't help think about it more and more as days went by. Then I saw a brief interview of Abbas Kiarostami. At one point he mentioned the kind movies he wanted to make and those he didn't. He didn't want to make movies that would hold the audience hostage with high suspense and after the show when the adrenaline drops down the audience would feel cheated. What he wants to make is "boring" movies and he mentioned that he actually felt asleep in some movies he considered to be great.There's no need for pulse rates to go high, the greatest achievemnt of a filmamaker comes when the audeince thinks about the movie for at times length after they get out of the cinema hall. When they can't shake off the feeling of seeing the movie and that feeling lingers on for a long long time.

And for sure, he was absolutely right. I couldn't shake off this movie. It actually hit me slowly, literally. This is a great movie. It has served its purpose. Why Mr Badi want to kil himself is totally irrevelant, that's not the point. We see a desperate man who has lost all will to live. It's as simple as that. All the characters in this movie feels real, too real..like watching my neighbours and friends go about their business. The movie is slow albeit one point. When Badi snaps a picture of a couple, he feels a sudden rush of doubt about what he is about to do. He says to the taxidermist to make sure he's still alive before putting the dirt on him. A stunning scene.

I'm a great admirer of roger ebert but I've to disagree with him on this one. I think this is an important movie.Even though it won the the palm d'ore, it's not taken serioulsy all around and many past great movies have been misunderstood. I've an instinct that after some dozen odd years this movie will stand the test of time and be considered a remarkable achievement.

masterpiece of the cinema of lonliness.......2005-10-02

"taste of cherry" is kiarostami's most complete work while-surprisingly-simultaneously being his most personal.i regard it as personal for reasons that to ME are obvious:homayoun ershadi(lead actor)looks a bit like kiarostami,he(in character) apparantely is of an intellectual atheism,his situation(driving around in his car for most of the time of the movie)can be depicted as a metaphor of either the director viewing through his camera or the spectator watching the movie and generally he is easy for the modern artist to identify with in terms of extreme lonliness.kiarostami wisely chooses to give no direct reason for his decision to attempt suicide.instead he focuses on his attempt to make human contact just before departure and from this premise forms the powerful drama of the film.kiarostami can be regarded as one of the most important figures of post-modern cinema:in use of new narrative devices,in this case the dialogues resemble comic book characters conversations where lines are written in white clouds above the characters heads,on the other hand the movie is another take by the director on the subject of life as narrative.each passanger has a "story" to tell,and in the end its about which story will us and Badi'ee(Ershadi) swallow.also its compatible with the post-modern notion of the re-invention of the "text" in the readers conception due to its "open" ending,we can't tell whether Badi'ee commit's suicide or not because neither for us and nor for him that is not the point anymore,we have taken part in hearing differrent stories and and experienced different approaches towards existance.kiarostami reminds us that narrating life IS itself LIFE,just like cheherezad keeps on telling stories to remain alive in the thousand and one nights.taste of cherry is the most sympathetic and lyrical attempt of contemporary cinema in illustrating the urban mans loveless-ness.a word about the DVD:though i'm grateful to the creators of Criterion and not only because of this movie,i hope there will be some improvement in the extras of iranian movies in general.the interview with kiarostami is to old for this movie and due to the importance of this film in kiarostami"s canon, a fresh and extensive interview with the man is necessary,plus reviews by kiarostami-liking critics and praises of international fellow directors.

Interesting movie.......2005-03-15

I'd say the message of the movie is pretty straighforward. Mr.Badii doesn't want to live anymore and he is asking people to bury his body after he commits suicide. Most people don't want to make a deal and finally one guy accepts it. The people reaction ranges from being scared to trying to change Mr.Badii's mind and convince him to stay alive.

Obviously, the author was not the first one who brought up these questions. So the content is not a big surprise. But the form! It's really something interesting.

First off, there are not too many Iranian movies around. Second, it's a very different culture. Third, it's a nice slow movie with plenty of time to think. There are a lot small tricks. E.g. the most of the film is really slow moving and you get used to that rythm. And all the sudden the final few events just fly by. I don't speak farsi but it's interesting to look at the faces when the characters are talking about the life and death questions. Sometimes it's not what you'd expect to see.

So watching this movie is something similar to visiting a museum. Relax, watch and think. Pay attention to the details. Try to understand a different culture. It worths a try.

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