Yeah yeah, Kiarostami is a genius. Yeah yeah, it won the Palme d'Or. While I agree that the film is finely crafted, it still suffers one fundamental flaw: it's simply too boring to watch.
For the first hour or so, the film works beautifully well. The film has a slow, meditative style reminiscent of Terrence Malick, which is perfect for the film's profound subject matter. The protagonist's actions and conversations are all quite fascinating, at least at first.
But after the first hour, I just felt... bored. Minute after minute of the Range Rover driving across the bleak, barren Iranian landscape. Look, there he goes again. And there he goes again. Yup, he's still driving around. Oh joy, more metaphysical talk. Yawn. By the time the film reached its famously awkward conclusion, I was just glad to be out of the theatre.
This is not to say the film was poor. Some of it was quite thought-provoking, and all of it is very intelligently done. But if we view films as a form of entertainment, then at least for me, "Taste of Cherry" fails miserably. Did the film make me think? Yes, it did. But did I enjoy the film? Decidedly not.
If you've already bothered to read the IMDB entry for this film, you probably feel obligated to watch the film, out of some sense of film literacy. Go ahead, watch it, but be warned: this film is not for those with short attention spans.
For the first hour or so, the film works beautifully well. The film has a slow, meditative style reminiscent of Terrence Malick, which is perfect for the film's profound subject matter. The protagonist's actions and conversations are all quite fascinating, at least at first.
But after the first hour, I just felt... bored. Minute after minute of the Range Rover driving across the bleak, barren Iranian landscape. Look, there he goes again. And there he goes again. Yup, he's still driving around. Oh joy, more metaphysical talk. Yawn. By the time the film reached its famously awkward conclusion, I was just glad to be out of the theatre.
This is not to say the film was poor. Some of it was quite thought-provoking, and all of it is very intelligently done. But if we view films as a form of entertainment, then at least for me, "Taste of Cherry" fails miserably. Did the film make me think? Yes, it did. But did I enjoy the film? Decidedly not.
If you've already bothered to read the IMDB entry for this film, you probably feel obligated to watch the film, out of some sense of film literacy. Go ahead, watch it, but be warned: this film is not for those with short attention spans.