Taste of Cherry (1998) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Badii is seeking someone to help him end his life. He has already dug his own grave and wants a person to return the next morning, either to help him take a step back from his decision if he chooses to live, or to bury him if he has gone through with suicide. However, throughout the film, Badii never reveals the specific reasons behind his decision to die, leaving his motivation deliberately opaque.

• badii suicide
• reasons to die
• Tehran
• middle-aged man
• assisted suicide

Badii's first passenger is a young, timid Kurdish soldier. When Badii confesses his intention to commit suicide and offers money for assistance, the soldier becomes overwhelmed by the heavy conversation. Fear overtakes him, and he quickly abandons the car, unable to handle the weight of what Badii is asking.

• kurdish soldier
• passenger
• leaves car
• fear
• rejection

The Afghan seminarist initially listens to Badii's request but ultimately turns away. He refuses because his religious beliefs strongly oppose suicide. His rejection is grounded in moral and religious convictions rather than fear or practical concerns.

• afghan seminarist
• religious beliefs
• refuses
• suicide
• theology

Bagheri, an Azeri taxidermist, agrees to help Badii primarily due to severe financial difficulties. His child is sick, and he desperately needs money to support his family. Though he has reservations about the act itself, his economic desperation compels him to accept Badii's offer.

• abdolrahman bagheri
• taxidermist
• agrees
• money
• sick child
• financial struggles

Bagheri shares that in 1960, he himself struggled with suicidal thoughts. At his lowest point, he tasted mulberries that had fallen from a tree, and the simple pleasure of that moment changed everything. He returned home and shared the mulberries with his wife, who found joy in them. This experience led him to choose life, and he has carried that memory as a powerful reminder of beauty in existence.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Bagheri mentions tasting mulberries in 1960, which transforms his outlook on life.

• mulberries
• 1960
• suicidal thoughts
• bagheri story
• taste of cherry
• chooses life

Bagheri actively tries to persuade Badii to abandon his suicide plan because he has personal experience with suicidal despair. After tasting the mulberries and choosing life, he developed a deep appreciation for existence, he speaks passionately about the beauty of sunrises, the moon, and stars. He wants Badii to experience that same realization and offers to gently bury him only if he has truly gone through with it.

• beauty of existence
• persuades
• life
• bagheri劝导
• sunrises moon stars

As they reach Bagheri's workplace, Badii suddenly requests a contingency plan. He asks Bagheri to confirm whether he is truly dead or merely asleep by throwing stones at him. This request reveals Badii's lingering uncertainty about his decision, he is not completely committed to dying, despite his methodical planning.

• stones
• contingency
• asleep
• confirms death
• uncertainty
• doubt

As night falls, Badii lies in his own grave while a powerful thunderstorm rumbles above. After a prolonged moment of uncertainty and a blackout, the screen cuts to black, leaving Badii's fate completely ambiguous. The film then unexpectedly breaks the fourth wall, showing behind-the-scenes footage of director Kiarostami and his crew filming the movie. This meta-narrative twist leaves viewers uncertain whether Badii chose to live or died.

• ending
• grave
• storm
• ambiguous
• fourth wall
• behind scenes
• kiarostami

The ending breaks the fourth wall by showing behind-the-scenes camcorder footage of Kiarostami directing the film. This unexpected artistic choice adds a meta-narrative layer, drawing attention to the artificial nature of cinema and leaving the audience to ponder the themes rather than providing a concrete resolution about Badii's fate.

• fourth wall
• meta narrative
• kiarostami
• behind scenes
• artistic choice
• ambiguity

The mulberries symbolize the small, unexpected moments of beauty that can pull someone back from despair. For Bagheri, tasting those mulberries in 1960 represented a turning point, a simple pleasure that reminded him life contains joy worth living for. This moment anchors the film's thematic exploration of whether existence holds enough beauty to justify continuing.

• symbolism
• mulberries
• beauty
• turning point
• hope
• meaning of life

Throughout the film, Badii deliberately refrains from explaining the specific reasons behind his decision to commit suicide. He focuses entirely on finding someone to assist him rather than discussing his motivations. This narrative choice keeps the focus on the ethical dilemmas faced by those he approaches and on the universal themes of life and death, rather than on the particular circumstances of Badii's despair.

• motivation
• secret
• doesn't explain
• reason
• suicide
• ambiguity