Depending on who you ask, this film or Close-Up (1990) is thought to be the magnum opus of Abbas Kiarostami. I can't say, but like all of the films of the Iranian New Wave it is something that humbles you and really make you consider what it is to walk upon this Earth. Right now I am dealing with the back to back losses of my grandmother and my aunt so I may be foggy in my perspective, but I'll try to get this right. The plot of this film is not the important part, but the details of how the plot plays out.
Bahdii is the man who goes to different people with the macabre favor of burying him if his plan to take his life goes forward successfully and collect the payment he has left behind for them. Most people turn him down flatly, but he finds an old man who is willing to it–but trying to convince him not to take his life. He uses the analogy of being in a dark night of the soul himself and almost killing himself until he eats a cherry from the tree he had planned to hang himself with–hence the title. I'll leave the ending up to the viewer.
This film in the hands of a lesser or less sophisticated film-maker would have been a disaster, especially given how easy the plot could be given over to pretentious grand-standing. But we have one of the greatest humanist film-makers of all time and the top-dog of the Iranian New Wave working this project so it becomes a transcendent masterpiece. It is a quite masterpiece compared to Close-Up, but it does make one fell a certain lightness and thoughtfulness (at least that's how I felt). The featuring of so many ethnic minorities in this film was noted throughout this movie. Also, this may be the darkest Range Rover commercial ever created (some comedy for you in these sad times). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMbRV5d7TeY
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