Ta'm e guilass (1997)

Director:

Abbas Kiarostami

Writer:

Abbas Kiarostami (writer)

Release Date:

10 October 1997 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Middle-aged Mr.Badii is planning to commit suicide and desperately seeks anyone to assist him - he has already dug out the grave in the mountains...

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Hole | Long Take | Iran | Suicide Attempt

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Homayoun Ershadi	...	Mr. Badii
Abdolrahman Bagheri	...	Mr. Bagheri
Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari	...	Soldier
Safar Ali Moradi	...	The soldier
Mir Hossein Noori	...	The seminarian
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ahmad Ansari

Directed by
Abbas Kiarostami

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Abbas Kiarostami		writer

Produced by
Abbas Kiarostami	....	producer

Cinematography by
Homayun Payvar

Film Editing by
Abbas Kiarostami

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hassan Yektapanah	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Mohammad Reza Delpak	....	sound designer
Jahangir Mirshekari	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Alireza Ansarian	....	camera operator

Production Companies

• Abbas Kiarostami Productions
• CiBy 2000

Distributors

• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Artificial Eye
• Atalanta Filmes (Portugal)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Film Corp. (1999) (DVD)
• Cult Filmes (Brazil) (DVD)
• Cult Filmes (Brazil) (VHS)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Mongrel Media (Canada)
• Primer Plano Film Group (Argentina)
• RCV Film Distribution (Belgium)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• RCV Film Distribution (Netherlands)
• Vértigo Films (Spain)
• Zeitgeist Films (1998) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

Taste of Cherry (UK) (USA)
Le goût de la cerise (France)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Iran | France

Language:

Persian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Finland:S | Hungary:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Tehran, Iran

Company:

Abbas Kiarostami Productions

Trivia:

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 1997 (#06).

Quotes:

Mr. Badii: I don't want to give you a gun to kill me. I'm giving you a spade, a spade.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 10 on Ten (2004)

A work of art, seeking reason to live

It is a work of art, one of those movies that can not be censored because of the content, thus a good point for an Iranian director. Something I like about Kiarostami's work is that the director does not try to cheat you. Even you can sense the presence of camera in some scenes and the reward is the beautiful picture, like walking in a picture gallery hand in hand with your beloved friend. And suddenly a nice picture catches your attention and you feel happy of the time you spend. If you feel lonely or hopeless, Taste of cherry gives you the sensation that at least you are not alone in this feeling. Still it does not impose any view on you, if the life is always merciful and happy or not. You yourself should decide the end of movie, then after watching the film it lives with your unconscious mind. My view is that Badii is looking for a marvel or sign to believe in life. He appeals against the death penalty that he sentenced himself to. If no reason to live he found a reason to die and benefit a needy person.