Taxi (2015)

directed by Jafar Panahi
Iran
82 minutes
5 stars out of 5
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How do you make a movie without making a movie?

Jafar Panahi's backstory is stated and re-stated at the beginning of nearly every review of one of his films, but as it's necessary to understand the filmmaker if you want to put his work in context, it has to be said again. Panahi was banned from making movies by the Iranian government on the grounds of having criticized the workings of Iranian society, but even with this restriction placed on him, he continues to make movies using unconventional methods. In all likelihood neither him nor his works will fit your model of a guerilla filmmaker and his output: He's an unassuming older man, and his movies are all relatively slow, thoughtful dramas about everyday life in Iran- with enough criticism of the government thrown in to earn him his gagging order.

In Taxi, Panahi creates his story through a dashboard camera and uses himself as a subject as well as the actors he clandestinely hires and picks up as passengers. He poses as a regular cab driver and executes vignettes with different people, often connected to each other somehow, that are both personal and reflect some truth about Iranian society. A lot of it is self-referential, having to do with either filmmaking as a whole or directly referencing Panahi's own work. In short: This is Jafar Panahi making a film about Jafar Panahi making a film about Jafar Panahi making a film, and it's brilliant.

The faux-candid POV where every passenger is no more than an ordinary citizen is probably the best way to get perspective on life in Iran. With the semi-recent popularity of sketch comedy that attempts to look as spontaneous as possible, including several series and other projects taking advantage of the dashcam format, it's important that Taxi not feel performative without totally ignoring its status as a fictional work. It falls squarely between those lines that divide documentary and fiction, just aware enough of being a movie to feel relevant while also seeming like a genuine window into the lives of some average Iranians. Each is charismatic in a way, including his little niece Hana and her own version of navigating the world of filmmaking within the restrictions placed on her.

I've seen someone giving it a review that mentions how it's ultimately "just another film about Iranian media censorship" and I'd just like to add that even if you disliked the movie as a whole, that's the wrong attitude to come at it with. When you get tired of this kind of thing, when you begin to categorize it in your mind as "oh, this guy's complaining again?", that's when it loses its potency. Jafar Panahi's clandestine form of filmmaking works because he continues to fight against the rules that try to regulate him out of existence and taking that stance, that perception of unoriginality, is ignoring what's been put into making this film.