alex-187 Review of Taste of Cherry

Taste of Cherry (1997)

One of the best films in the history of the big screen. Full stop

[10/10 · 6 February 1999]

One of the best films in the history of the big screen. Full stop. A man, preparing to kill himself for reasons we shall never be told, is looking for help. He won't find any by the army, for no manifestation of strength shall be able to solve any problem permanently. Nor will he find help under the wings of religion, based as it is on faith, a principle too abstract to heal concrete suffering. Help will come, instead, from nature, its colors and smells. An old man, who shared the same unhappiness as a youngster, shall show the aspirant has-been that nothing deserves such an extreme decision: even the sight of a happy couple crossing the road can change your attitude towards life. Shot on the bare but wonderfully colored hills of Iran, which often recur in Kiarostami's environments, I felt dizzy looking at the scene where the protagonist tries to foresee his underlife by projecting his shadow under a fall of sand and stones unloaded from a camion: this scene alone is worth the Oscar!