TASTE OF CHERRY

MOVIE: TASTE OF CHERRY
DIRECTION: ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
CAST: HUMAYOUN ERSHADI

This would be one movie stuffed with enough symbolisms to keep one busy thinking throughout the day. The plot of the movie is quite plain. The story speaks of a man (Badii) who wants to commit suicide and seeks help from anyone who is ready to put earth over him after he is dead. This is in exchange for a large sum of money. Much of the movie has been shot in Badii’s Range Rover.
Badii is initially refused help by two people, but then, there are only three people who get into his car and speak to him. First is a boy who wants to reach the barracks at a particular time. The boy when comes to know about the job that he has to do in exchange for the money, refuses to help and flees when he gets the opportunity. This could be symbolic of helplessness and failure to understand and solve a problem, usually faced by teenagers. So their solution is running away from it. Next person to get into Badii’s car is a seminarist. This is a youth who tries to state that suicide is not an appropriate option, but is quietened by Badii who says that he does not require help from one who is “learning” and would rather seek help if he had to from someone more knowledgeable. This could be symbolic of the extent of a youth’s knowledge. Badii’s words prove that one gains more knowledge and experience about a subject with age. The third person to be inside the car is an old man who narrates his own experience of attempt to suicide. The old man (Bagheri) does his best to convince Badii that suicide is not the correct option and that one mustn’t choose to end one’s own life. He explains how one simply wishes to see the morning sun, and how one wishes the taste of mulberries upon his tongue. Bagheri’s conversation with Badii proves the persuasiveness of elders and their ability and knowledge about various things.
A particularly interesting factor is the sequence at which these three characters appear. The first was a lad, the second a youth, and the third an old man. In short, the three different stages of life, each character portraying different angles to solution of a problem.
Another statement that the movie subtly makes is that being rich has no part in making one happy. Badii is a tremendously rich person (evidently brought out by, the offer he makes to people for burying him after he is dead, the Range Rover which is not an ordinary car that he drives and the bundle of notes that he draws out to buy a ticket to meet Bagheri). So even though Badii has plenty of money, he wishes to die for reasons left to the audience’s guessing.
However towards the end, one can say Badii finds hope, though he still sticks to the earlier decision to die. This is brought out from the scene, where he runs back to Bagheri to tell him to throw stones at him and to shake him awake to confirm that he is really dead and not just asleep. Also Badii notices the beauty of the setting sun and children playing in the ground.
The end, i.e. the part after he enters the grave he has made and everything is blacked-out is a bit confusing. Here the director himself is seen talking over a walkie-talkie asking soldiers who had been marching round a hill to take rest. The actor who played Badii casually walks around. Probably the director tries to emphasise in the end that it was after all, just a movie. As to whether the character Badii is dead or alive is not shown.