'Taxi Tehran' (Discover Tuesdays) - Film review

My local Picturehouse cinema is a nice little building on the quay called Harbour Lights. Along with every other cinema in the Picturehouse franchise they run a weekly event called Discover Tuesdays, which is basically giving screening to arty/foreign/eye-opening films which aren't on the new release ordinary programme, as a chance of experiencing something different. It's basically right up my street in terms of what I'm trying to achieve this year, though a little steep, I highly recommend it.

Including a poster with other peoples' reviews on it, scandalous.

Taxi Tehran is a Life in a Day-style rolling-camera film from Iranian director Jafar Panahi. The premise is that Panahi has somehow procured a taxi (in the Iranian capital Tehran), with almost the entirety of the film's footage coming from an 'anti-theft' camera he installed on the dashboard, recording the conversations and interactions he has with the various friends, family and customers he picks up over the course of a few hours. The action feels so real it's risky saying it merely 'feels' real and wasn't in fact just candid-camera recording, though one of the first passengers plants the suggestion that at least some of the action is scripted and staged by asking (in Persian) 'I'm in a film aren't I?'


The film-making is really quite delightful in this sense of candid realism, mostly because Panahi himself, who is in almost every 'scene' as himself driving a taxi is endlessly delightful himself. Truly humble and kindly observant he has just the right amount of input to be shaping the film whilst also making it a joint experience with the audience - you really feel as though you're a part of it with him. Much in the spirit of Life in a Day, in the interest of maintaining the illusion of reality there are occasional stretches of dash cam footage where Panahi just leaves the camera running on a street scene while he leaves the car to do something else. This along with the long prelude to the film of just dash cam footage of waiting at a busy intersection creates the impression that this film was really created for a foreign audience to raise foreign audiences' awareness of issues in modern Iran: I doubt I'd be particularly interested in a film with 5-minute free cam sections of street scenes in downtown Southampton, so Panahi takes the pains to invite whatever far-flung audience may find his film to settle down fully in his world as he leads us around.

The scenes (or I suppose they should be called 'scenarios') are so cleverly planned out to lend themselves towards discussion to the pertinent issues pertaining to the films setting in history and geography. Under Panahi's earnest and humble stewardship the conversation (it would be cynical to call it dialogue) flows naturally and is largely pleasant and often very funny. The scenarios involving Panahi's young niece may have been exploited somewhat to produce the maximum amount of cuteness, but they are very funny and enjoyable and film-making is after all an art - this film goes to far fewer liberties from reality than most films do, so what liberties Taxi Tehran does take can definitely be excused. The film in its entirety emerges in the mind as being very subversive, but in a subtle, polite way which doesn't demand much of the audience other than that they listen to the genuine complaints of genuine people. As a work exposing the languid monster that is film censorship, Taxi Tehran does a massively great jobs without having to make massive leaps, by setting up scenarios and explaining the situation to a young girl the point is made in way which comes to consciousness in the viewers mind gradually at first, snowballing towards the end and then exploding right at the very end with the revelation that this relatively polite film was itself censored as 'unscreenable' by the Iranian authorities. This film manages to stay civil in the face of an apparently very unjust regime, as well as light-hearted, humorous and full of love for life, for which this film deserves a lot of praise.

I know this shouldn't really be included it here because it doesn't strictly relate to the film, but I did learn something about the cinema experience watching this film which is really worth sharing as a story. I really love the British people. So, as a film made in a country with strict Sharia law, Taxi Tehran was dubbed 'unscreenable' (presumably for its discussion of Sharia, capital punishment and, ironically, censorship), as we are informed by an abrupt title card to signal the end of the film: the film was unscreenable so can't have credits, just a little note to say thank you to those involved. Now of course British people being creatures of habit and spectacularly socially awkward when in large numbers are used to walking out of the cinema at a specified time, during the end-credits with the music playing. However, in this case with a sudden black screen and hurriedly-written end card there were no end-credits and the film ends abruptly. So, in their confusion the whole audience (100+ people) sat in stunned awkward silence for a good 5-10 seconds after the final fade, not knowing what the protocol was, until someone at the back started clapping. Whether it was because the film was good, because the director was brave making a film in the face of censorship, or just because no one knew what to do, everyone followed soon and only when everyone had had a satisfactory clap did everyone resume the normal protocol of standing, chatting and filing out in an orderly queue. I love British people: we're either great in a weird way or weird in a great way, but at least at moments like this one can be reassured that we're all in this awkward social experiment of an island nation together.

Taxi Tehran is a really lovely film which, simultaneously with being lovely, manages to discuss some very important issues. For this reason it gets an 8.5/10 (or 4/5), and this experience has made me very interested in seeing more of Jafar Panahi's filmography if the rest of his work is as subversive and joyous as this. Unless I finish my review of Bridge of Spies tomorrow as I've been threatening to do for quite some days, the next review will be on Thursday and Friday of The Revenant and Creed, though maybe not in that order. Thank you for reading, please remember to share!

Please feel free to comment what you agree or disagree with, I'd be delighted to discuss, and you can leave your email address to be notified of replies or comment anonymously if you'd prefer. More reviews coming soon :)

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