Taxi Tehran – Film Review by Frank L.

Directed by Jafar Panahi

Jafar Panahi has been forbidden from making movies since 2010 following a period of imprisonment because of his views which are critical of the Iranian regime. He exists now in Tehran in an uncertain legal situation as he is under a type of “house arrest” but he appears to be able to travel relatively freely within Tehran. In this highly restricted state he has managed already to make the highly acclaimed “This is not a film” in 2011 and “Closed Circuit” in 2013.

In Tehran Taxi, he works as a taxi driver with a camera fixed in the cab. In Tehran, a taxi driver may pick up a new fare when he already has a passenger. So a passenger in a cab does not necessarily have exclusive use of it. It is a place where conversations may result between strangers. In Panahi’s film some conversations do take place. These conversations reveal the governmental and societal controls which govern the daily life of Teheran’s citizens.

Given the meagre resources which are available to Panahi and the restrictions under which he is forced to work, the fact that he manages to make a film at all is a miracle. In Tehran Taxi he manages to explain some of the governmental doublethink which ordinary citizens endure on a daily basis as they try to go about their business. It is this ability of Panahi to explain the inexplicable which makes his work so engaging. His courage to make thoughtful films is obviously to be applauded. The fact that his films justly receive critical acclaim is testament to his creative genius as he is forced to devise them in the most straitened of circumstances.

In a mad world it is great to have a rational voice; Panahi is that voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8fcTe4Dvpg