🎬 2025 Movie #22 | Taste Of Cherry (1997)

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This blog is a personal journal of all the movies, Tv-Shows, & Games I consume during a year which enhances my overall experience. The ratings that I give are fully based on my personal preference and enjoyment at the time of watching and I'm writing spoiler-free reviews. (All HBD earnings are used to get extra Hive Power Delegations!)

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I'm not quite sure where I picked up the movie Taste of Cherry on my watchlist but with an intriguing plot and a 7.7/10 on imbd while I heard before from a friend that movies From Iran actually tend to be really strong, it's easy to see why I put in on there. It is a film from 1997 and it won the best film prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year. I watched it last night knowing nothing more than the main plotline but it likely would have been better if I started it knowing some context which I will break down in this review. The thing is that this movie did male me curious about director Abbas Kiarostami who seems to have more movies with great scores that all don't have too long of a runtime (Close-up 8.2/10 & under 100 Minutes / Where is The Friends House 8.1/10 around 80 Minutes / Life And Nothing More 7.9 & 90 Minutes / Through The olive Trees 7.7/10 & 100 Minutes). After having Watched Taste Of Cherry, I'm certainly curious about more films of this director.

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Taste Of Cherry (7.3/10)

This is one of those movies where purely on a surface level, not that much is happening as 90% of the movie it's about this guy named Mr.Badii who is driving around in his car in an environment with a lot of dirt roads in search for someone who can help him leading to different conversations.

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Movie Plot:

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

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The Structure and Deeper Meaning: So the movie is structured in a way where the Road and his drive represents the journey of life and the people he meets represents the stages of life. In the beginning he passes a couple of kids, the first person he gets to ask to do the task is a young soldier who is scared about what he's asking him and runs away, the 2nd is a middle-aged religious guy who thinks a lot and the 3rd one is a old man who empatizes and tries to let him see things in perspective. Never is any context or a detail given why Mr.Badii wants to comit suicide and it's something he also tells in the movie that it's impossible to make someone feel what he feels so they understand. The ending of the film in a way on its own puts things in perspective.

For me, this was one of those movies where I liked the concept reading the plotline going in not really knowing what to expect which left me underwhelmed with the film after watching it as I tend to take things literally. However, watching some Youtube videos about the movie afterward to help me understand more and see the deeper context of it all did really lift it up a lot. I also found the movie generally well filmed with many cinematic shots bespite the environment that was quite monotone with lots of dry dirt.

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Trailer

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Conclusion
Taste Of Cherry is one of those movies about life and death in general which is filmed well and leaves an impression while at the same time not really making me feel warm or cold. What it did do however is make me curious about other films of this director. Without further context after watching it I would rate it a high-mid 6 score, however after watching some youtube to get a better context and understanding it got bumped up to a low-mid 7 score. So I'm glad that I watched it but at the same time I did not take too much away from it as the suicide topic in general is not one I relate the most to. Still a solid 7.3/10 and I fully can see why many see this film as a masterpiece.

#	2025 Watched Movies	Score
#01	Heretic	7.8/10
#02	A Different Man	6.9/10
#03	Look Back	6.9/10
#04	Caddo Lake	7.5/10
#05	Sing Sing	6.0/10
#06	Paris, Texas	9.2/10
#07	The Greatest Night In Pop	7.2/10
#08	Sometimes I Think About Dying	7.3/10
#09	Memory Lane	6.8/10
#10	Winter In Sokcho	7.6/10
#11	On Falling	6.8/10
#12	Carry-On	6.9/10
#13	The Brutalist	6.6/10
#14	Dune Part Two	6.1/10
#15	Companion	7.8/10
#16	Under The Silver Lake	7.2/10
#17	After Life	7.5/10
#18	Hit Man	7.3/10
#19	The Edge Of Seventeen	7.3/10
#20	Anora	6.6/10
#21	Mickey 17	7.6/10
#22	Taste Of Cherry	7.3/10

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