Taste of Cherry (1997) poster
1997 · drama

Taste of Cherry

Directed by Abbas Kiarostami1h 39m1997
ElsewhereIMDb7.741kRT83%Metacritic80TMDB7.7708
  • sombre
  • slow-burn
  • signature
Movie DNA

Sombre, slow-burn, measured drama, inventive in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, cold, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

How every film is hand-scored →

A middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. Driving around the city, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim student, asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck. Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.

Our read · Taste of Cherry (1997) reads as a sombre, slow-burn, inventive drama entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook, with a strong directorial signature. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

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The shape of Taste of Cherry

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want a spare Tehran road movie about mortality, dignity, and stubborn human kindness.

ends ambiguousit stays with youmeditativegrips from the openattention 5/5earns its lengthsubtitles: full
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upsuicide theme

Skip it tonightSkip if suicide themes or slow subtitled conversation will unsettle you tonight.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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