I’ve been trying to watch films lately that leave me thinking about their small moments. That is how I landed on the 1997 Iranian film Taste of Cherry, which gave me an impression of its impact even before viewing it. The film follows a middle-aged man, Mr. Badii, as he drives around looking for someone to bury him after he kills himself that coming evening. After failing to recruit a soldier and then a seminary student, Mr. Badii finds Mr. Bagheri, a taxidermist who needs the money Badii is offering to care for his anemic child. Bagheri, however, attempts to convince Badii to keep living, though (spoilers), the film ultimately ends ambiguously.
Before Badii meets Bagheri, though, there is a shot from the movie that, when it happened, I had to write it down so I wouldn’t forget it when I went to write my thoughts. Badii arrives at a construction site of some kind and watches the laborers and their machines as they move dirt and rocks. Previously in the film, Badii praises the earth, one moment I can think of now is with the security guard, and the imagery of the film centers on the dirt roads and expanses of earth Badii travels around. The image I’m thinking of is this: Mr. Badii’s shadow projected onto the flow of earth and rocks at around the 41 minute mark.
Much of the film does not put two characters who are talking in the same frame. A shot is often devoted entirely to one thing, and that is usually Badii, whoever is in the passenger seat, or an aerial view of the car. I think that is what I found so striking about this moment, where Mr. Badii’s shadow allows him to occupy more space that just within himself. In this moment, he sees himself as combined with the moving earth, as part of it. Earth, which is what it is always called in the translation I watched (Badii does not ask for “dirt” to be tossed over him), inhabits a complicated role in Taste of Cherry, at least in my opinion. On one hand, it is something Badii values and frequently brings up in conversation. On the other, it is the thing that, should he succeed in killing himself, would enshroud him forever. Earth is also crucial to the job that Bagheri has – it is the thing that will connect him to Badii as Bagheri covers his body with it. I saw this moment of connection between Badii and earth, before Badii even talks with Bagheri, as illustrating this duality as well as opening up the prospect of a new perspective for Badii. This moment becomes most potent when considering Bagheri’s words, which come later. When Badii watches the earth fall in that moment with his shadow laid over it, he has decided to kill himself. He might see this image as a sign of him soon uniting with the earth forever. However, after Bagheri’s speech, Badii as well as the audience can reflect on that moment as full of possibility, where the image of himself in the earth is not confirmation of his self-imposed sentence. My friend Leila likes to say that the past is fixed, but the future is full of endless branching possibilities, a sentiment that I felt in this shot of Taste of Cherry.
This exploration is shorter than mine for Dogtooth but I actually enjoyed watching Taste of Cherry. Dogtooth was interesting but it wasn’t beautiful. Taste of Cherry is quiet, close, and clear. I am thinking, too, about the ending behind-the-scenes shots. Not sure what I think, yet, though. Anyway, very very good movie.
There is Still Time 
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