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Review

A troubled Iranian man in a Range Rover rides through the outskirts of Tehran looking for an accomplice to return to a designated location at 6:00 the next morning to shovel 20 spadefuls of dirt on his suicidal grave. Profoundly alienated, he is the displaced person among the Kurds, Afghanis and Turks whom he encounters in his quest. The land he travels glows red under the desert sun in a bleached blue sky; the barren, rocky soil a perfect backdrop to his condescending arrogance. His request elicits various responses -- fear, religious counseling. But the man who agrees to perform the task offers a story of his own flirtation with suicidal intent born of despair. Taste of Cherry is rich in stark imagery, stunningly used to evoke at once existential angst and the inexhaustive human will to survive. It's marred only slightly by the inexplicable addition of a "filmmakers at work" coda. (Farsi with English subtitles)