Mr. Badii, a middle-aged man, drives his range rover around the outskirts of Tehran, searching for someone to aid him in an unusual job - which he is willing to pay handsomely. Mr. Baddi wishes to end his life and is looking for someone who will agree to bury his body - as he plans to overdoes on sleeping pills. Abbas Kiarostrami's Taste of Cherry is a quiet, pensive film about a man who is ready to leave life behind. Through his search he meets several individuals, some of which are simply scared by his proposition, others attempt to talk him down from taking his life, while one man, a Turkish taxidermist who himself has contemplated suicide, reluctantly agrees to help Badii carry out his plan. The first thing about this film that is bound to piss off views is the overall ambiguity. The viewer is not given nearly any information about our protagonist's history or background never getting any idea as to why he wants to kill himself. On top of that, it never is clear whether Badii carried out his plan or decided to keep on living. While these point of ambiguity are bound to bother some, it is ultimately not important to the film. It's a film that is simply about our humanity, the fragility of life. We are simply meant to experience the world through our main protagonist, with a pensive stare who seems to be reflecting on life, though we are never given details. The biggest problem with Taste of Cherry is its overabundance of dialogue used to explore the ideals and philosophical aspect of our humanity. It relies far too much on heavy dialogue between the main protagonist and the characters he meets. While there are a few exceptions, I wish the film would have instead relied more of visuals to create this effect. 7.75/10
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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