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Author Topic: Taste of Cherry  (Read 3840 times)

skjerva

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Taste of Cherry
« on: June 19, 2008, 10:44:48 AM »
i really have little idea why this film is so adored.  i have no idea if its reputation lies in something it does for iranian cinema (and i obviously know nothing about), that it won the palme d'or and was adopted by certain critics, no idea.

why do you like it?

i liked the beginning where the impression is given that mr. badii is cruising.  i thought that bit raised the question of what one is willing to do for money (not specific to the belief that this was about cruising, but labor in general). 

then, through the tediousness of the rest of the film and getting restless, the end is a nice gimmick.  i have no idea what is going on with the shift, assume it has something to do with cultural taboo on suicide and it was a necessary distance for the film to take to be acceptable (but  i'm not going to hold onto that theory very hard, especially once one of you smarty pants comes into set the record). 

i didn't care much for the shift from the mystery-of-the-job to it being about suicide.  not sure why, it felt cheap.

while some of the visuals were nice, it is hard not to be spending so much time on landscapes, so not much credit to be had there.  so much time spent in the car, why?  the head shots in the car did nothing for me.  i was a bit bothered by the rough equation of desert to suicide and culture to life.  the impression is certainly that by the end of the film, where we are shown the city and its houses and the museum of natural history, that mr. badii is wanting to be alive; while he wants to be dead "outside of civilization".  this bifurcation is also illustrated with the questioning of the laborer with the UCLA sweatshirt on, mr. badii almost seems disappointed of the guy not knowing what his shirt says.

a big part of my distaste is also about being turned off by the moralizing against suicide.  if it is possible to make a compelling argument against suicide, this film fails miserably.  is suicide a metaphor for the decline of civilization, exemplified by the military?  if so, that certainly didn't work for me.

anyway, i am quite interested in why people love this film.  i'd love to know what you get out of it, which parts work.
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
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sdedalus

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Re: Taste of Cherry
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2008, 11:08:32 AM »
Sigh, so obsessed with argument and metaphor.  A movie's a movie.

Try reading this.
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skjerva

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Re: Taste of Cherry
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2008, 11:47:50 AM »
Try reading this.

the rosenbaum piece does absolutely nothing for me.  he seems most interested in defending the film against complaints of "narrative omission", i could care less about that. i also tend to agree with him that the remove from the initial filmic narrative is interesting (as in better than what was going on), but i don't have an explanation for it. 

Sigh, so obsessed with argument and metaphor.  A movie's a movie.

no idea what this is supposed to mean.  do you really not think that elements of the film are decided on for a reason?  could this film have been shot in an all-white room to the same effect?  or, more generously, and in line with the essay that you linked to (which suggests to me that you agreed with it), the idea of personal meaning - that my connecting the desert in the film with isolation makes sense to me, while it apparently does not to you.

anyway, i'd be curious why you (apparently) like the film.
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
                        - Iris Barry from "The Public's Pleasure" (1926)

sdedalus

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Re: Taste of Cherry
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2008, 11:55:01 AM »
You look for prose, I like poetry.

Tomato, potato.
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samfuller

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Re: Taste of Cherry
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2008, 09:10:50 PM »
This doesn't really add much to what Rosenbaum has said, but what I like about the film is how it focuses on ethical questions around suicide by placing us in the position of the passengers. This is why we learn little about Badhi, since the film is more about the different reactions to him and how we in the audience take up our own place in this narrative. This also explains Kiarostami's cutting method, keeping the characters isolated (apparently they were not even in the same space, simply cut together and given the illusion of wholeness by sound continuity and the Kuleshov effect).

And to quote Rosenbaum about the ending, it is not a gimmick that simply says "this is only a movie", but rather that it is ALSO a movie. And I can't understand how you find the film "moralizing". Badhi makes compelling arguments for doing what he's doing, and even the taxidermist agrees to help him despite trying to convince him otherwise (as most would try to do).

facedad

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Re: Taste of Cherry
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2008, 02:22:53 PM »
Jon, just trust me, you're wrong on this one.
You're just jealous! Nobody loves you because you're tiny and made of meat!

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skjerva

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Re: Taste of Cherry
« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2008, 02:32:06 PM »
Jon, just trust me, you're wrong on this one.

funny you should bring this up now, with the Chinatown discussion ongoing.  this seems to be another example where i (a) don't like a well-received film, but, more importantly (b) ask others to share what they get out of the film, while also offering more examples of (c) the somewhat dismissive responses (sd and face, not fuller) that don't say much about what it is about the film that they like (though, of course, sd does make the "poetic" claim, which is fine, but what is poetic about it?).

face, i'd love to get more of your thoughts on why i'm wrong, and i'd happily load the film into the player again to give it another shot, especially given some different context to go into it with.
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
                        - Iris Barry from "The Public's Pleasure" (1926)

facedad

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Re: Taste of Cherry
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2008, 02:42:31 PM »
Jon, just trust me, you're wrong on this one.

funny you should bring this up now, with the Chinatown discussion ongoing.  this seems to be another example where i (a) don't like a well-received film, but, more importantly (b) ask others to share what they get out of the film, while also offering more examples of (c) the somewhat dismissive responses (sd and face, not fuller) that don't say much about what it is about the film that they like (though, of course, sd does make the "poetic" claim, which is fine, but what is poetic about it?).

face, i'd love to get more of your thoughts on why i'm wrong, and i'd happily load the film into the player again to give it another shot, especially given some different context to go into it with.
I was dismissive because I'd have to actually watch it again to articulate well (without really mining my memory which is pretty empty right now). Cait hasn't seen it, so maybe I'll get around to it. Also, I was right about Some Like It Hot.
You're just jealous! Nobody loves you because you're tiny and made of meat!

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skjerva

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Re: Taste of Cherry
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2008, 02:45:26 PM »
Jon, just trust me, you're wrong on this one.

funny you should bring this up now, with the Chinatown discussion ongoing.  this seems to be another example where i (a) don't like a well-received film, but, more importantly (b) ask others to share what they get out of the film, while also offering more examples of (c) the somewhat dismissive responses (sd and face, not fuller) that don't say much about what it is about the film that they like (though, of course, sd does make the "poetic" claim, which is fine, but what is poetic about it?).

face, i'd love to get more of your thoughts on why i'm wrong, and i'd happily load the film into the player again to give it another shot, especially given some different context to go into it with.
I was dismissive because I'd have to actually watch it again to articulate well (without really mining my memory which is pretty empty right now). Cait hasn't seen it, so maybe I'll get around to it. Also, I was right about Some Like It Hot.

you are probably right about SLIH, not as convinced with ToC.  if you do watch it with Cait, let me know and i'll do it at the same time. 

you're not in Montréal yet, are you (when are you going)?  so jealous
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
                        - Iris Barry from "The Public's Pleasure" (1926)

facedad

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Re: Taste of Cherry
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2008, 02:48:33 PM »
Jon, just trust me, you're wrong on this one.

funny you should bring this up now, with the Chinatown discussion ongoing.  this seems to be another example where i (a) don't like a well-received film, but, more importantly (b) ask others to share what they get out of the film, while also offering more examples of (c) the somewhat dismissive responses (sd and face, not fuller) that don't say much about what it is about the film that they like (though, of course, sd does make the "poetic" claim, which is fine, but what is poetic about it?).

face, i'd love to get more of your thoughts on why i'm wrong, and i'd happily load the film into the player again to give it another shot, especially given some different context to go into it with.
I was dismissive because I'd have to actually watch it again to articulate well (without really mining my memory which is pretty empty right now). Cait hasn't seen it, so maybe I'll get around to it. Also, I was right about Some Like It Hot.

you are probably right about SLIH, not as convinced with ToC.  if you do watch it with Cait, let me know and i'll do it at the same time. 

you're not in Montréal yet, are you (when are you going)?  so jealous
Still waiting for immigration to go through. Have to be there for class on the 3rd. Things are getting nervous.
You're just jealous! Nobody loves you because you're tiny and made of meat!

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http://www.thereelists.com

 

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