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Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2015)

Jafar Panahi’s Taxi review.

written by Souranath Banerjee

‘Nothing can prevent me from making films since when being pushed to the ultimate corners I connect with my inner-self and, in such private spaces, despite all limitations, the necessity to create becomes even more of an urge.’ – Jafar Panahi.

My Ratings: 4.3/5.

Jafar Panahi is an Iranian filmmaker of great calibre, one of the pioneers of the Iranian New Wave, who made acclaimed films like The White Balloon (1995), The Mirror (1997), The Circle (2000) and Offside (2006).

But in his own country, his films were seen as propaganda against the Iranian government and on March 2010, Jafar Panahi along with his wife, daughter, and 15 friends were arrested!

Jafar-Panahi's-Taxi-poster420-year ban was put on him preventing him from directing any movies, writing screenplays or even giving interviews with Iranian or foreign media. He is not even allowed to leave the country except for medical treatment or making the Hajj pilgrimage.

But the voice of a true film maker can never be silenced and thus Jafar Panahi can never be stopped from making his films.

Since his ban in 2010, Jafar Panahi has already made three brilliant films This Is Not a Film (2011), Closed Curtain (2013) and his latest Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2015). All these films were eventually smuggled out of Iran (one of them was smuggled on a flash drive put inside a baked cake) and screened in numerous prestigious film festivals. 

Jafar-Panahi's-Taxi-posterTaxi Tehran aka Jafar Panahi’s Taxi was recently a part of the JIO MAMI 17th Mumbai Film Festival, and was very well received – it even won the Audience Choice award.

The whole film was made from inside a car, yes, the camera never goes out of the Taxi!

The concept is simple enough, director Jafar Panahi himself posing as a taxi driver goes around the streets of Iran and record his interactions with other people who hires/rides his taxi. The style is that of a documentary and these funny yet crucial conversations make the content of the film.

A well rehearsed and cleverly scripted film, brilliantly acted by everyone including the director – incredibly natural performances!

Jafar Panahi’s Taxi is very entertaining film but that’s not where it stops.

Jafar-Panahi's-Taxi-poster1The film is also a socio-political statement on the modern day Iran, a country that is still clouded with superstition and poverty, where capital punishment still exists for crimes like petty theft and women are jailed for trying to attend men’s volleyball match!

The film is a silent scream against Iran’s harsh, non-democratic government policies; for example: in the entertainment sector who or what exactly defines publishable or screenable cinema?

Through the often hilarious and seemingly lighthearted film, Jafar Panahi asks many such invaluable questions to the world knowing very well that the answers are buried deep in his own country.

He smiles, sympathies, often shows discomfort and in his own leisurely way, he guides us through a few hours of a very cleverly mapped taxi route.

Jafar Panahi’s Taxi is also the director’s personal protest, a loud yet peaceful way of defying injustice, of breaking away the shackles; it’s a celebration of freedom through cinema.

Jafar Panahi may not be the best cabbie but this is one taxi ride that is highly recommended for all film lovers.

Poster courtesy: filmmakermagazine.comhttp://www.cinenews.be