Taste of Cherry
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Taste of Cherry (Template:Lang-fa, Ta’m-e gīlās...) is a 1997 Iranian drama film written, produced and directed by Abbas Kiarostami. It is a minimalist film about a man who drives through a city suburb, in search of someone who can carry out the task of burying him after he commits suicide. It was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, which it shared with The Eel.
Plot summary
Mr Badii (Homayoun Ershadi), a middle-aged man, drives through Tehran looking for someone to do a job for him, for which he offers a large amount of money. During his drives with prospective candidates, Badii reveals that he plans to kill himself and has already dug the grave. He tells the people he is soliciting to go to the spot he has chosen the next morning, and either help him up, if he has chosen to live, or to bury him, if he has chosen to die. He does not discuss why he wants to commit suicide.
His first recruit is a young, shy Kurdish soldier, who refuses to do the job and flees from Badii's car. His second recruit is an Afghan seminarist, who also declines because he has religious objections to suicide. The third is an Azeri taxidermist. He is willing to help Badii because he needs the money for his sick child. He tries to convince Badii not to commit suicide, and reveals that he too wanted to commit suicide a long time ago but chose to live when, after failing his attempt, he tasted mulberries, he continues to discuss what he perceives to be the beauty of life, including sunrises and the moon and stars. The Azeri promises to throw dirt on Badii if he finds him dead in the morning. Badii drops him back to his office, but suddenly runs back to meet him, requesting for the Azeri to confirm if he's actually dead, by throwing some stones on him and jolting him awake (in case he is asleep).
That night, Badii lies in his grave while a thunderstorm begins. After a long blackout, the film ends by breaking the fourth wall with camcorder footage of Kiarostami and the film crew filming Taste of Cherry, leaving Badii's choice unknown.
Cast
- Homayoun Ershadi as Mr. Badii
- Abdolrahman Bagheri as Mr. Bagheri, the taxidermist
- Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari as Worker
- Safar Ali Moradi as Soldier
- Mir Hossein Noori as Seminarian
