A Taste of Cherry (1997)

[Mr. Arkadin]

A suicidal man drives the hills and streets of Tehran, picking up passengers for a single purpose—to shovel earth over his dead body. As Mr. Baddi interviews candidates for the job in his car, he comes to realize the world holds trouble and misery for many, but beauty and hope still reside if one is willing to look.

Abbas Kiarostami's A Taste of Cherry was made in a country unknown for classic film (Iran), but it explores universal themes and concepts we all relate to: What is life? What is good? Am I master of my fate? Do my actions affect others? If you’ve ever pondered these questions, A Taste of Cherry is your movie. Baddi’s dark quest might not provide all the answers, but his journey is worthwhile viewing.

A Taste of Cherry premieres early tomorrow (2/1) on TCM.

[charliechaplinfan]

I've watched A Taste of Cherry, it's thought provoking and I thought his task slightly ghoulish but I stayed with it. Grim but oddly compelling.

[ziggy 6708]

okay, Arkadin, I did kind of like this very unusual film. Gave me alot to think about, but have to ask your opinion on the ending. Read many theories over at imdb, including the one on censorship, but it still seemed a cop-out, or some kind of artistic affectation.
Anyone else who saw it?

[Mr. Arkadin]

I saw your post at TCM, but I have been very busy lately and will probably continue to be so for the upcoming months, so if I don't reply immediately, it's nothing personal.

There are many films that have endings like this (another that springs to mind is The Last Metro [1980]) and I think we all find different things in them because A Taste of Cherry is a work that demands active participation from its audience.

Like Citizen Kane (1941), this is a movie that works off the emotional baggage that we bring along on our journey with Baddi, which is partially represented by the different passengers. What I got out of the film is represented by my initial post: Life consists of many things: joy and sorrow, bravery and fear, reality and illusion. The question is, How do you choose to view your world?

Another great film that is referenced here might be Voyage to Italy (1953), which also takes place in a car with two individuals who must rediscover what life consists of, before they can rediscover each other and save their failing marriage. As I alluded to previously, Baddi's quest does not have a linear answer. Instead, it poses questions (much like Baddi does) to fellow travelers like us, who reflect on the meaning (or meaninglessness) of our existence.

[ziggy 6708]

thanks, you're probably right, the ending just took me aback and wondering.
great pick though.
BTW sorry if it looked like I was chasing you down, but this kind of film doesn't get much notice at the 'other' message board, so I was glad to see you here too.

[charliechaplinfan]

I can see the similarites between Voyage to Italy and A Taste of Cherry. I felt a participant when watching this film, it's not a comfortable subject matter but it does make me think.

[otterhere]

Wha---??? What a weird, weird film... Hello, all the guy had to do if he wanted to die -- or even be buried with earth -- is drive off any one of those mountain roads he traversed all through the movie... I swear, I thought for sure he'd finally figured out that he could just jump into that pit into which the earth-mover was shoveling tons of dirt and get it over with. What am I missing here, lol? And the ending just TOTALLY lost me; it was all a movie?

That said, I did enjoy the dialogue/conversation between the protagonist and those he encountered; they seem unusually friendly and polite over there!!!