Taste of Cherry (Ta'm e Guilass) poster & wallpaper
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Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolrahman Bagheri, Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari, Safar Ali Moradi, Mir Hossein Noori ... see more see more... , Abdolhossein Bagheri

Co-winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, The Taste of Cherry is the venerable Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's examination of life, death and the small miracles in between. Hom... read more read more...ayoun Ershadistars as Mr. Badii, a middle-aged man wishing to kill himself; driving his Range Rover across the arid outskirts of Tehran, he searches for someone to aid him in his final hours, someone who will agree to bury his body if he succeeds in his mission -- a planned overdose of sleeping pills -- or rescue him if he fails. Offering a large sum of money in exchange for services rendered, he first picks up a Kurdish soldier who ultimately flees in fear upon learning of Badii's plan; the next passenger, an Afghani seminary student, instead attempts to convince him of the sanctity of human life. Finally, Badii picks up a Turkish taxidermist who reluctantly agrees to check the body for signs of life; having long ago contemplated suicide himself, the taxidermist also tries to dissuade Badii from ending it all, accepting the offer only because he needs the money to care for his sick daughter. Kiarostami's refusal to answer the film's two most obvious questions -- exactly why does Mr. Badii wish to end his life, and does he successfully carry out his plan? -- invites viewers to share in his protagonist's plight by triggering their own powers of imagination. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Flixster Users

83% liked it

6,014 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

30 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.

Directed by: Abbas Kiarostami

Release Date: March 8, 1998

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DVD Release Date: June 8, 1999

Stats: 396 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (396)

  • fb1216165431
    September 10, 2011
    fb1216165431
    Taste Of Cherry director Abbas Kiarostami has effectively communicated life in its richest complexity that solicits insights and persuades an introspection. An art house film masterpiece. Burrowing.
  • robfearon
    October 13, 2010
    robfearon
    The minimalistic visual style gives us the space and time to contemplate the story and characters we're watching.
  • codyfranklin2
    February 4, 2010
    codyfranklin2
    Interesting minimalist Iranian film that won the Palm d'Or in 1997. It's captivating, but really doesn't have any re watching value or a ending that makes sense. It's about a suicidal man driving through Tehran desperately trying to find someone to bury him after he commits suic... read moreide. What makes the film interesting is the different people he encounters.They are from different countries, religions, and classes, and they are all fascinating. You also get to see Tehran as a thriving Metropolis, overpopulated slums, and a desolate desert hill country. The film is very slow moving and 75% of it takes place in a car, and thats what makes re watching value drop. The ending is also very confusing and I still don't understand what it means, and I even tried to look it up on the internet to no avail.
  • mvieaddict
    April 26, 2009
    mvieaddict
    I didn't particularly enjoy this film, tending it to be kind of documentary, but it is nicely photographed and well acted.
    Through the dialogue between different people from different classes, everyone has his own attitude about "life & death". I think I can't say which was rig... read moreht and which was wrong. The director only gives it to us and let us think for ourselves.

    Every scene is simple & ordinary, but has a certain strange fascination. To be honest, I don't like these kind of movies, but as being an Iranian movie and Golden palm winner I wanted to see it. It is a good film, only you should like these movies.
  • KLFilmmaker
    December 22, 2008
    KLFilmmaker
    Painfully slow at times, but the creepy/intense performance by the lead make this one worth a viewing.
  • RicC
    July 17, 2009
    RicC
    Peaceful, meditative, but not a unique ending like everyone says. It's more castigating than uplifting.
  • seriousqt
    June 19, 2009
    seriousqt
    they kind of movie you write a paper for in college. a thinking man's film. active cinema with neorealist tendencies.
  • Aimeeee
    April 5, 2009
    Aimeeee
    Agh! This movie gave me the heebie jeevies. The first 20 minutes were so disturbing that I had to turn it off. Nothing actually happened, but the main character was just so creepy... ugh agha. "Hey let's go for a ride... put some dirt on me" Next!
  • columbiatch
    March 19, 2008
    columbiatch
    A very thought provoking film that's difficult to pin down. A lot has probably been discussed about the enigmatic ending to this film. (hint: spoilers ahead) I think that the reason the audience is given almost nothing about the protagonist's background suggests that he is not re... read moreally the focus of the film. Rather, the film is interested in the people he meets and how he react to his requests and the issue of suicide. Whether he dies or not shouldn't really matter. My interpretation could very well be too simplistic or completely wrong, and perhaps after watching more of Kiarostami's films this could become clearer.

View All Taste of Cherry (Ta'm e Guilass) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Joe Baltake
July 24, 2001
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

Appropriately languid and uniquely seductive. Full Review

John Hartl
July 24, 2001
John Hartl, Film.com

Has a visual style that seems rudimentary but becomes increasingly hypnotic and resonant.

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The film is such a lifeless drone that we experience it only as a movie. Full Review

Richard Corliss
January 1, 2000
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

The talk flows persuasively; the picture pulses with art and humanity.

Edward Guthmann
January 1, 2000
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

Kiarostami is in no rush, but the respect and love he shows for his characters, and the confidence and simplicity of his technique, make Taste of Cherry a satisfying experience. Full Review

Stephen Holden
January 1, 2000
Stephen Holden, New York Times

Kiarastomi, like no other filmmaker, has a vision of human scale that is simultaneously epic and precisely minuscule.

Stanley Kauffmann
January 1, 2000
Stanley Kauffmann, New Republic

As the film's design becomes clear to us, a quiet spaciousness begins to inhabit it.

Sean Axmaker
December 6, 2009
Sean Axmaker, Turner Classic Movies Online

Taste of Cherry confirmed Kiarostami as the most acclaimed director of Iran's rich film culture... Full Review

Rob Nelson
September 1, 2009
Rob Nelson, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Kiarostami's insistence on putting a frame around his vision keeps the freedom of interpretation--and the responsibility for it--in the hands of the viewer. Full Review

Keith Uhlich
March 6, 2007
Keith Uhlich, House Next Door

Taste of Cherry might be Kiarostami's most difficult film. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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