Taste of Cherry: A Review

I was prepared to be bored by this movie, mainly because Jonathon Rosenbaum of the Reader was so rapturous about it.

But it turned out to be such an evocative depiction of anomie, that I think Kiarostami must have read Durkheim. At times, it's a little too allegorical (and I think the use of what sound like “St. James Infirmary at the end was especially heavy-handed), but the beautiful imagery tied so precisely to the deepening meaning of the story make up for any slight faults.

I was especially struck by the shot of the gates to the Natural History Museum in Tehran at a pivotal moment in the plot. Their lush, sweeping curves stood in every way for the lost gemeinschaft of modern Iranian life better than any dialog or explication ever could—and paved the way for the hero's ultimate rejection of their current hollow meaning.

All in all, five stars all the way.

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