--- title: "Taste of Cherry: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/taste-of-cherry/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/taste-of-cherry" critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 9 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Taste of Cherry (1997): what the critics said Critics' score 68 from 9 reviews: 7 positive, 0 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics take the film to be Kiarostami at his most distilled: a man drives the outskirts of Tehran asking strangers to help him with his own death, and the pleasure, such as it is, lies in the talk and the terrain rather than in incident. Praise clusters around the direction and the plain, patient shooting, with several reviews singling out the conversations with the men he picks up, one about the sweetness of fruit in particular, and the dusty industrial landscape. Seven of nine call it a serious and humane piece of work. The dissent is sharp rather than mild. Roger Ebert finds it excruciatingly dull and calls the slow, monotone style an affectation; Empire likes the shifts of scenery and colour but feels cheated by the ending. Even admirers hedge on that ending, which Variety expects to disappoint some, though The Playlist argues that calling the film dull misses the point. The spread is wide: enthusiasm or impatience, little in between. ## Los Angeles Times — Kevin Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 March 1998. Kiarostami’s soaring parable follows a middle-aged man in Tehran seeking someone to bury him after his planned suicide, turning into an odyssey on life’s meaning and human dignity through encounters with various men. Every shot attests to the director’s mastery, inviting viewers to think deeply about life and nature’s consolations. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-27-ca-33090-story.html) ## Slant Magazine — Budd Wilkins Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 24 July 2020. The critic praises Kiarostami’s understated rumination on existential despair and suicide, highlighting the film's use of landscape, conversations with outsiders, and the remarkable transition from fiction to behind-the-scenes footage with music. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/taste-of-cherry-blu-ray-review-abbas-kiarostami/) ## The New York Times — Stephen Holden Rating NYT Critic’s Pick. 27 September 1997. Festival review. Kiarostami contrasts the vitality of Iranian working life with the suicidal despair of a middle-aged man driving around Tehran seeking someone to bury him after he takes sleeping pills. The film offers an epic yet minuscule vision of human scale and dignity. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/27/movies/film-festival-review-human-anthill-room-for-individuality-sense-dignity.html) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic describes the film's slow revelation of a man's search for help with his planned suicide, drawing viewers into his psychological and ethical dilemma. They praise the subtle, deceptively simple mise-en-scène, particularly a noisy industrial desert scene and the ambiguous penultimate sequence. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/a-taste-of-cherry) ## Variety — Deborah Young Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 25 May 1997. Festival review. Kiarostami’s linear and accessible parable follows a despairing man seeking discreet help to bury him after suicide, with a bleak premise partially offset by arguments for nature’s consolations, though the abrupt cerebral ending may disappoint some. The director cuts masterfully with fable-like repetitions and symbolic visuals. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/the-taste-of-cherries-1117329750/) ## Empire — William Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic finds the film fascinating for its subtle shifts of scenery and colour but questions its Palme d'Or win and criticises the ending for leaving viewers feeling deprived. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/taste-cherries-review/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 1/4. 27 February 1998. The critic finds the film excruciatingly boring and not a worthwhile viewing experience, despite acknowledging its humanistic intentions and the director's courage in addressing suicide. He argues that the slow, monotone style is an affectation that fails to engage or benefit the subject matter. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/taste-of-cherry-1998) ## Paste — Dom Sinacola Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2016. The film is an existential tone poem of deliberate pace following a man seeking help with suicide, ultimately becoming a transcendental meditation on life, death, and human connection. The critic singles out the taxidermist's conversation about the sweetness of mulberries and seasonal fruits, along with the film's transcendent conclusion and behind-the-scenes coda, as elements that reveal its profound beauty upon rewatch. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/abbas-kiarostami/abbas-kiarostami-1940-2016) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating A-. 13 February 2013. The critic finds the film patient and languid, disagreeing with those who dismiss it as dull or self-indulgent. They praise Kiarostami’s humanism and the film’s oblique qualities, along with its beautifully plain shooting style and the baffling but brilliant coda featuring behind-the-scenes footage set to Louis Armstrong. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-films-of-abbas-kiarostami-a-retrospective-20130213/3/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/taste-of-cherry.md