A solitary man cruises on the streets of Tehran in his Ranger Rover, after being rebuffed by a labor younger, he picks up a shy, adolescent soldier, is he a solemn kerb-crawler? Kiarostami archly teases his audience in TASTE OF CHERRY (noticing the timing of the title's advent), however, it is not sexual gratification that Mr. Badii (Ershadi) seeks for, but someone who can bury him if he is able to carry out his suicidal attempt successfully.
Mr. Badii is shrouded in total opacity, a ploy Kiarostami cleaves to rigidly, the rationale behind his action is perversely unforthcoming, therefore, any empathy or compassion can be invoked by this woebegone saddo is squarely occluded by Ershadi's comportment of unrelieved dourness. It is one thing that by refusing to specify Badii's tales of woe, what Kiarostami tries to home in on is that particulars do not matter, as every individual is saddled with heterogeneous misfortunes, struggles or hurdles. Yet, the elision of the occasion why Badii is so obsessive to his quest is another thing, for someone who ponders killing himself, the import of being buried after he gives up the ghost must contain some sort of ritualistic meaning. Thus, this bothersome evasion takes the shine of Kiarostami's otherwise,A perceptively minimalistic study of a human being's meta-existential crisis.
Thoroughly incorporating Iran's ethnic, religious diversity and its concomitantcomplex backstories into the characters whom Badii ask for the unorthodox task - a Kurdish soldier, an Afghan seminarist, an Azeri taxidermist, with their ages in ascending order (each reacts with sheer avoidance, religious contraction and cracker-barrel wisdom, respectively, to counter the proposal), TASTE OF CHERRY diligently parses the mostly improv communications (through shot reverse shots inside the car) with distinct realism. For example, comparing Badii's different approaches of propositioning his request to the soldier and the seminarist, they are so plain mundane yet at the same time, brilliantly stimulating, like watching a relatable event unfolding in front of our eyes,we are vicariously steeped in their almost involuntary reactions and responses to see whether they are as we anticipate or not, that also betrays a critical condescending stance an intellectual viewer often subliminally adopts when being subjected to watch less sophisticated, less fortunate human interaction.
Mr. Badii's resolve is blunted after he finally strikes a deal with the taxidermist (Bagheri), will he has a change of heart? Purportedly the final reels are accidentally destroyed by the lab, Kiarostami makes virtue out of necessity by suffixing an ad hoc coda of grainy documentary footage of the shooting, therefore leaves Mr. Badii's destiny irrevocably moot, which can numinously construed as a bonanza, since either living or death, the film would lose some potency of its cosmic sageness. Besides being a humanistic philosopher, Kiarostami acquits himself aesthetically with TASTE OF CHERRY cohering beautifully in its dusty, earthy landscape, the metaphorical imagination of being buried under the outpouring earth is powerfully resonating.
referential entries: Jafar Panahi's TAXI TEHRAN (2015, 7.6/10); Kiarostami's LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE (2012, 7.4/10).
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