Taxi Teherán

Acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi drives a cab through the streets of Teheran. The changing passengers speak out openly what is on their mind. A female teacher and a young man discuss death penalty, a bootlegger offers the new season of "The Walking Dead" and some Woody Allen movies, two old women want to transport their goldfish in a glass bowl to a holy place, a young woman wants to transport her much older husband who has been injured in an accident, and a cheeky little girl explains the rules of Iranian filmmaking and her entitlement to a frappuccino.

A highly emotionally satisfying miniature. On the surface it feels small and funny, but underneath it is seething in anger and defiance at the Iranian government. One of the stuff that makes the movie so unusual is that it is so difficult to pinpoint whether everything is planned or caught in the spur of the moment. Especially the final scene which kept my mind wondering. I really like this a lot. More so when I found out about the sad state of affairs for Jafar Panahi. He is actually banned from making movies for 20 years because he was deemed to have crossed the "sordid realism" line drawn by the Iranian government. How he subtly pokes fun at the authorities is hilarious and yet warm. The whole 80+ min film feels like a window into another world, a world not unlike ours, especially when Eric Khoo's most recent film is deemed "unscreenable". One of the most important films I have seen this year. Now I feel like hunting down The White Balloon, Closed Curtains and This Is Not a Film.

Going into a screening of this film, there are a couple of things an audience should know. In 2010 Jafar Panahi, was arrested for making a film against the Iranian regime. Since then he has not been allowed to make films, leave the country or participate in interviews. Taxi, however, is his third film since the ban, and even though it's filmed entirely within the confined space of a taxi, it shows us the streets of Tehran. We're out in the open, right under the nose of the Iranian government.

Read More Here (https://filmcurious.wordpress.com/2015/05/02/review-taxi- 2015/#more-145)

Panahi was banned from making films for 20 years by the Iranian Government in 2010 but who then responded by making idiosyncratic 'films' with no actors and no end credits and then smuggling them out of the country.

In Tehran Taxi, Panahi masquerades as a taxi driver and picks up a range of curious passengers throughout Tehran; from a couple of old ladies nursing a goldfish in a bowl, a mugger, a flower seller and a traffic accident victim.

It's an unusual style, but one made familiar by dash-cams across the world and both the subject matter and style of interlocking stories reminded me of Jim Jarmush's 1991 film 'Night on Earth'.

Panahi isn't a comedian, but his style is lighthearted. The fact he is a film maker rather than a real taxi driver also means that he doesn't know many directions around the city and he further bemuses passengers when he refuses to take payment at the end of the ride. Equally though film paints an interesting picture of the everyday lives of the passengers and the buzz of the city going on on the streets of Tehran outside of the taxi's window.

Tehran Taxi is an excellent film. Sit back and enjoy the ride!

Some films can't be fully appreciated without knowledge of the way they have been conceived. This is clearly the case for 'Taxi Teheran'. The story behind it: Iranian film maker Jafar Panahi has been convicted by the regime for making 'subversive' films, and is no longer allowed to film in Iran. Consequently, Panahi has switched to making 'stealth' films: his film making is no longer visible. These films are smuggled out of the country and showed in art-house cinemas around the world.

'Taxi Teheran' is filmed with a dash cam. It shows Panahi as a taxi driver in Teheran, talking with his passengers, and discussing the hot political topics in Iran he is not allowed to touch upon. His passengers talk about the death penalty, about political prisoners, about the male-centred inheritance laws, or about Ghoncheh Ghavami, the woman who got a prison sentence for attending a volleyball game.

Panahi cleverly links the political issues to real-life situations, such as the wish of a of a motorcycle accident victim, to have his last will and testament filmed with a smart-phone, before he passes away. The film is far from boring and has some funny moments. It's all done in a documentary style, without any artificial cinematographic additions. Still, everything is staged, and some camera movements and cuts make clear that Panahi is a professional director.

Unfortunately, just its being made in a stealth mode doesn't mean 'Taxi Teheran' is a terrific film. It largely depends on the dash cam-gimmick, which wears off after a half hour or so. The story itself is too meager to carry the whole film, and some of the taxi passengers are just not interesting enough to grab the viewer's attention.

This year's installment in delightfully subversive political guerrilla filming is brought to us by Jafar Panahi and his film, "Taxi". Mr. Panahi is an Iranian filmmaker who ran afoul of his government's strict rules concerning suitable filming subjects. As a result, he spent time in prison and under house arrest. Not to be daunted, he continued making films that skirted the government's definition. "Taxi" is his third such film and like the other two, had to be smuggled out of the country to be seen.

Panahi assumes the guise of a taxi driver (apparently a nod to fellow Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's film, "Ten") and drives around a city, much like any other city, picking up various passengers throughout the day. There are moments of hilarity as Pahani deals with one situation after another, but underneath it all is a telling story of what life is like in Iran today, with particular attention to issues of censorship, state sanctioned brutality, women's rights, and of course, how this affects the arts and culture. It makes light of life in Iran and pokes fun at the powers that be, all the while recognizing that their actions have serious ramifications.

It is for the most part an engaging film, but given that it all takes place in a taxi and as such, is almost completely driven by dialog, it can drag a little. Still, for what it is, a piece of political theater, it is really excellent. If you get a chance to see it, I'd recommend it if for no other reason than to get a small feel for a country we, in the Western world, get to see so little of.