Taste of Cherry (1997) Ta'm e guilass (original title)

Director:

Abbas Kiarostami

Writer:

Abbas Kiarostami

Release Date:

10 October 1997 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An Iranian man drives his truck in search of someone who will quietly bury him under a cherry tree after he commits suicide.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Hole | Outskirts | Automobile | Tehran Iran

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

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
• Kanoon

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:

"Ta'm e guilass" - Iran (original title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Iran | France

Language:

Persian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Finland:S | Hungary:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | Australia:PG | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Tehran, Iran

Company:

Abbas Kiarostami Productions

Trivia:

The film's coda was to a certain extent unplanned, according to an interview with Kiarostami. After they had filmed preliminary versions of the final scene, they did the final scene proper, but the lab accidentally destroyed these final reels. Kiarostami then decided that the off-focus and colors of the test reels worked, and used those instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening scene, as Mr. Badhi is driving past laborers looking for work, the same middle-aged white haired man, wearing a checkered sweater vest, is seen twice.

Quotes:

Mr. Bagheri:If you look at the four seasons, each season brings fruit. In summer, there's fruit, in autumn, too. Winter brings different fruit and spring, too. No mother can fill her fridge with such a variety of fruit for her children. No mother can do as much for her children as God does for His creatures. You want to refuse all that? You want to give it all up? You want to give up the taste of cherries?

Movie Connections:

Featured in 10 on Ten (2004)

Moving allegory

I was prepared to dislike this film. Instead, I wound up fascinated. The state can't help Mr. Badii, the church can't help him...and even though nature, in the form of Mr. Bagheri, tries, we do not know if it succeeds. Absolutely fascinating. It shows that a director doesn't need $200,000,000 and a raft of special effects and explosions to make a good film.

As for the shot-on-video ending, it's entirely possible that it's there to appease the Iranian censors. "Look! Here's Mr. Badii! Alive and well. It's just a movie!" Another subtle commentary on the state of affairs in Iran today, I'll wager. At least, that's how I chose to see it.

It seems to me that the title reflects Douglas Adams' techniques for flying--fall, and then distract yourself so that you don't hit the ground. It's not that the taste of cherry makes life worth living, per se, it's that simple things can distract you from your cares.

This movie was well-shot, well-directed, well-acted, and well-written. Highly recommended.