Submitted by – Grace Hleih

Submitted to- Tr.Thurein Linn

Analysis of “Taste of Cherry”

This movie was produced and directed by Abbas Kiarostami in 1997. This movie is about
life . The main character, Mr.Badii is driving around and looking for someone to help him- to
bury him after his suicide. They only have to bury him and will highly paid. He met with three
people. The first one is the young soldier who runs away after hearing about his offering. The
second one is the seminarian who gives him lectures not to commit suicide and doesn’t help him
either. The third one is an old painting teacher who wants to help him as he needs money for his
ill son. But he talks with him and tells him his experience of attempting suicide. The taste of
cherry changed his perspective of life. He tries to persuade him not to commit suicide too.

The setting is in Iran, mostly on the road and hills as he is heading to Teheran. The color is
mostly dry ,dull and warm but in some scenes , we can see bright and green hills. The costumes
are very simple as all the casts wear plain and old and dull clothes. The lighting is very dull and
warm , we can see natural daylight, low-key lighting. The movie has mostly long shots scenes as
the camera takes are focus on the conversations between Mr.Badii and the other people on the
car. The props are also very simple, the car is the main prop. The castings are good at taking in
their roles. For Mr.Badii, he is a suicidal person so he has a very emotionless and hopeless face
all the time. The ending is also an open ending which make the audience think about it for a long
time after watching it. It may be a boring movie for some people but it is a good movie indeed.