Middle-aged Mr.Badii (Homayoun Ershadi) is planning to commit suicide and desperately seeks anyone to assist him - he has already dug out the grave in the mountains, but the assistant will have to bury him after hes done the deed. His first recruit is a young, shy Kurdish soldier, who refuses to do the job and flees from Badii's car. His second recruit is an Afghan seminarist, who also declines because he has religious objections against suicide. The third is an Azeri taxidermist. He is willing to help Badii because he needs the money for his sick child, but tries to talk him out of it. Each of the men seem to represent a different position on the subject - even though their beliefs are never portrayed in a heavy-handed or less than sympathetic manner. Directed by Abbas Kiarostami, Taste Of Cherry is an enduring meditation on living life. While it's interminably slow - and the ending is nearly impossible to figure out - you can't say it's not an interesting film.
Jesse Gumbarge is editor and chief blogger at JarvisCity.com - He loves old-school horror films and starting pointless debates. You can reach out at: JesseGumbarge@JarvisCity.com
