Since the Iranian government banned him from the exercise of his profession, Jafar Panahi has managed to find increasingly brave ways to circumvent that ban and carry on shooting new works internationally acclaimed as courageous acts of nonviolent resistance.
Taxi Tehran is the third and best film on this new, highly restricted period of his career, after This Is Not a Film and Closed Curtain. The auteur, who humbly declares he carries on filmmaking -despite the obvious risks he faces- because is the only thing he can do, shares an idea from fellow Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami‘s ‘10’, impersonating a cab driver who chats to a wide range of customers, with a camera set in the vehicle’s control panel filming their conversations while driving around a Tehran brimming with life.
Among the passengers he takes for a ride, his own niece who has been told to enter a short film competition in school and wants her notorious uncle to bring his expertise, talking about the many rules and controls she has to take into account if the film has to be deemed appropriate for public screening; a conservative man and a liberal teacher sharing their opposite views on the hangings of men caught stealing; respected human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, famous for helping prisoners of conscience and people facing the death penalty, or a seller of pirate DVDs who recognizes the auteur and claims he’s fulfilling an important cultural role as foreign DVDs are often forbidden. Through him we know a bit more about Panahi’s own tastes, hailing recent works by Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Woody Allen and classic Kurosawa.
The value of ‘Taxi Tehran’ goes beyond the rebellion against the injustices of an oppressive regime. As an affectingly humane reflection on the current social and political state of Iran, done in good humour and lively manner, it also serves to showcase the endless perseverance, wit and wisdom of a master on top of his game. Panahi, overcoming the many limitations thrown at his way, keeps on refining his craft by finding a deceptively simple narrative to put his message across. ★★★★½
