Taxi Teherán

With all due respect to Jafar Panahi and his work, his film Jafar Panahi's Taxi did not receive a prestigious award from a major festival for exceptional artistic quality, not even for extraordinary social commentary. What he describes in the micro-stories of his clients is well-known to the majority of his audience. The festival jury simply wanted to draw attention to the difficult situation of an author whom the regime is determined to silence. Jafar Panahi's Taxi is a small film and given Panahi's current position and the circumstances of its filming, things cannot be any different. I do not blame him for this, but I became aware of the passage of time while watching it, and it is precisely this lack of absorption that I consider the dividing line between a decent and an excellent film. When I compare Jafar Panahi's Taxi to an emotional gem such as A Separation, I cannot give it more than 3 stars. Among other things, it is because the director does not differ from his surroundings in terms of pace and unwillingness to edit. On the other hand, his ability to subtly capture unpleasant realities and regime hypocrisy can be appreciated. Despite its inconspicuousness and apparent restraint, the film is highly political and provocative. Overall impression: 60%. (09.10.2015)

I appreciate the filmmaker's innovative form and courage to make a film that is a quite provocative probe into the life of unfree Iranian society, but I must admit that I don't share the general enthusiasm. Somehow I just wasn't absorbed in the plot, although the similarity with the political situation in our country before the Velvet Revolution gave me chills at times. (06.07.2020)

Iranian feature version of Taxi. Although without Hama and the competitive aspect, but this is more than enough made up for by mirroring and making the system look evil with humor and exaggeration. PS: Are there any cars of other colors than white, silver metallic, white, black and white in Tehran (apart from taxis)? (10.10.2015)

(BE2CAN, Atlas) My first Panahi, which might have been a mistake given the meta level of Taxi Teheran, I’m sure I missed many references. But I’m still very satisfied, it’s a very stimulating (and surprisingly funny sometimes) ride through the capital of a questionable country that throws spokes at the wheels of (not only) its most valuable artists and makes their lives hell. It didn’t need much, a camera and a car, but actually needed a lot of courage. I believe I have an obligation to appreciate that courage, though it’s not an unpleasant obligation. Film fans should be dependable :) (18.10.2015)

I have a lot of respect for the old man, especially whenever I think of directors complaining about how crappy the creative environment is in this country, but this film struck a side of me I wasn't expecting. I went into it as a formally minimalist probe into ordinary Iranians, and by the halfway point I got a half-assed explanation of censorship and unfreedom helped on its way by... well, guess... a small child asking questions. I can accept that under certain circumstances, but those circumstances involve at least one exploding helicopter and that sort of thing, not an eighty minute cab ride. (02.06.2016)