There's something rather pretentious in the way the cinematic academia have championed this film. Let's face it, who would want to watch a British or American film about a man driving around trying to find someone to assist him in his suicide? Flatly paced, minimalistically plotted, and excessively protracted, I was checking my watch every five minutes through this one. It is basically little more than a one and a half hour drive around the suburbs of Tehran: interesting scenery, no doubt, but I prefer my rides a little more exhilarating. Forget the in depth analyses of 'Sight and Sound' and 'Time Out'; elliptical reads as a synonym for unengaging in this case, and the 'twist' ending is not very clever at all. There is really no excuse for this; 'The White Balloon' also suffered from a miniscule budget and being produced in a country with a short cinematic history, yet it worked against these odds to produce a fascinating look at Iranian culture through fresh eyes. This film is almost completely artless, still rooted in a cinema verite which attempts to rationalise a lack of talent, but does not in my eyes excuse it.
Review of Taste of Cherry
