Chorus.Fm Weekly Movie Club • Page 18

I’m down

 

I'm done with school this week so I've got the time

 

Looks like everyone is hungry for movies so let's kick off

@OhTheWater is up first

 

Taste of Cherry (1997)

 

Wooo! I actually have a physical copy sitting in my unwatched criterion stack.

 

Awesome, been meaning and needing to watch that one for awhile.

 

streaming on both Max and Criterion channel, possibly more

 

I like Taste of Cherry a lot. Probably my second-favorite Kiarostami I've seen so far behind The Wind Will Carry Us.

 

Taste of Cherry is wonderful. I’m currently out of the country, so I likely (certainly) won’t get to it this week, but a truly fantastic film for anybody seeing it the first time.

 

First-time watch for me! I trust @OhTheWater

 

I haven't seen it yet! Has been on my to-watch list for a while, and I saw it was available on Criterion and HBO.

 

Taste of Cherry is great

 

Would be interested in hearing people’s thoughts on the two endings of the film, once they get around to watching it. I’m not entirely sure what I think / what the exact intention is of it, so would love to hear anybody else’s perspective on it!

 

Just finished it! Loved it. Not sure there is a more empathetic filmmaker than Kiarostami. Between this, Friends House and Close-up especially, his movies feel like a big tearful hug. The third car ride is up there with the moped finale in Close Up.

now as far as the final ending goes I’d have to do some digging, I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s very much in line with every other Kiarostami movie I’ve seen. He is always finding ways to blur the lines between reality and fiction.

 

Here’s a link to the essay that comes with the Criterion edition.

Taste of Cherry: Stay Near the Tree

and a link to Roger Ebert’s pan one star review, which imo is not one of his better takes lol:

Taste of Cherry movie review & film summary (1998) | Roger Ebert

 

Starting now

 

Hmmmm the second ending… I found it both fascinating and also potentially unnecessary. I need to read a bit more and sleep on it. Ebert was way off.

 

The scene in which Badii visits the man who makes the tea and we see him in the forefront as the rocks slide down the hill was particularly beautiful. The images of the birds as well. I was captivated by the focus on machinery moving gravel throughout the film.

 

mulberries

 

@aoftbsten is up tomorrow

@jkauf is up next week

 

Watched Taste of Cherry today

It's always harder to write in a strong positive manner so thank you to Elbert for providing a target to attack. To complain about not knowing about the reason for the mans suicide completely misses. Knowing makes it too easy, a problem can be solved, a reason can be justified. Kiarostami drives away from the man picking up plastic in the dirt and tells us to count to four with our army buds, eat the Mulberries, make movies, and let's us answer a question; would you help a stranger when they ask?

 

Taste of Cherry was very good. The shot of him contemplating his decision in the construction yard was haunting. He's been asking these young men to bury him with "just 20 spades of earth" but seeing a burial in an industrial setting adds to the weight of what he is asking. There is another shot where he is taking the photo of a young couple and the man is obscured from the shot via the window frame. I think this shows Badii inserting himself into that scenario, where maybe he is part of a happy life with someone who cares for him. Not knowing the reason for the Badii's decision isn't important, but that shot does seem to hint at loneliness being part of it.

But the real impact of the film is how these strangers react. One runs, one hides behind religious reasons, the other agrees to the task and in doing so also offers true empathy and seems to plant real seeds of doubt in Badii in a way the others couldn't. Visually we also see this play out as the man leads Badii down an unfamiliar road he doesn't know how to navigate.

In the end, we don't know his fate or his decision. Yes, we see him take some pills through the curtain, but was it enough to end his life? We also see a similar silhouette on the floor below him making similar movements, let us briefly contemplate what's going on in their life too. In the end, we can never truly know what is going on in someone else's mind, but trying to reach out with a helping hand or just talking to someone with kindness can always help.

 

This week's pick: In Bed with Victoria - It's streaming free now on Tubi (linked for convenience)

Written and directed by Juliet Triet, who also wrote and directed my favorite film of the year thus far, Anatomy of a Fall. That film feels like a modern masterpiece, so I want to explore more of her filmography. Figured I might as well have some others to discuss with.

 

In Bed With Victoria was fun! Been a few years since I’ve seen it, but a very modern French rom-com. I really like Virginie Efira, and I think this was the first film I saw her in.

Been ~5 years since I’ve seen it, so maybe I’ll try and revisit this week.

 

Trying to do Taste of Cherry and In Bed with Victoria this week, but probably won’t be til the back half.