Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for Taste of Cherry?

Directed by Abbas Kiarostami, with Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolrahman Bagheri, Safar Ali Moradi leading the cast, Taste of Cherry was produced by Kanoon with a confirmed budget of $120,000, placing it in the ultra-low-budget category for drama films.

At $120,000, Taste of Cherry was produced on a lean budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $300,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1976): Budget $120,000 | Gross N/A • 37 Seconds (2019): Budget $125,000 | Gross N/A • Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974): Budget $130,000 | Gross $186,757 → ROI: 44% • Bicycle Thieves (1948): Budget $133,000 | Gross $450,159 → ROI: 238% • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974): Budget $140,000 | Gross $30,922,680 → ROI: 21988%

Key Budget Allocation Categories

▸ Above-the-Line Talent Drama films live or die on the strength of their performances. Securing award-caliber actors and experienced directors represents the single largest budget line item, often consuming 30–40% of the total production budget.

▸ Location Filming & Period Production Design Authentic locations — whether contemporary or historical — require scouting, permits, travel, lodging, and often significant dressing to match the story's time period. Period dramas add the cost of era-accurate props, vehicles, and set decoration.

▸ Post-Production, Color Grading & Score The editorial process for dramas is typically longer than genre films, with careful attention to pacing and tone. Color grading, a nuanced musical score, and detailed sound mixing are critical to achieving the emotional resonance that defines the genre.

Key Production Personnel

CAST: Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolrahman Bagheri, Safar Ali Moradi, Mir Hossein Noori, Elham Imani Key roles: Homayoun Ershadi as Mr. Badii; Abdolrahman Bagheri as Mr. Bagheri; Safar Ali Moradi as Soldier; Mir Hossein Noori as Seminarian

DIRECTOR: Abbas Kiarostami CINEMATOGRAPHY: Homayun Payvar EDITING: Abbas Kiarostami PRODUCTION: Kanoon, Kiarostami Foundation, CiBy 2000 FILMED IN: Iran, France

Box Office Performance

Taste of Cherry earned $10,923 in worldwide box office revenue.

Break-Even Analysis

Using the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier (P&A + exhibitor shares of 40–50% + distribution fees), Taste of Cherry needed approximately $300,000 to break even. The film fell $289,077 short in theatrical revenue. Ancillary streams (home media, streaming, TV) may have bridged the gap.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Revenue: $10,923 Budget: $120,000 Net: $-109,077 ROI: -90.9%

Profitability Assessment

VERDICT: Unprofitable (Theatrical)

Taste of Cherry earned $10,923 against a $120,000 budget (-91% ROI), falling short of theatrical profitability. Ancillary revenue may have reduced the deficit.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

The underperformance may have increased risk aversion around ultra-low-budget drama productions.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Music & Score

The film does not include a background score, except for the ending titles. This features a trumpet piece, Louis Armstrong's 1929 adaptation of "St. James Infirmary Blues". The only other song featured in the film is "Khuda Bowad Yaret" (May God be your protector) by Afghan singer Ahmad Zaher, which is played in the background on a radio about 38 minutes into the film. In the sequences filmed around and inside the wildlife museum, the background music features the voice of Abdolhossein Mokhtabad.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 3 wins & 5 nominations total

Awards Won: ★ Palme d'Or

CRITICAL RECEPTION

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 40 reviews, with the "critics consensus" reading, "Taste of Cherrys somewhat simple aesthetic belies a richly ambiguous character study with an impressively ambitious thematic scale." Rob Aldam of Backseat Mafia described the film as "an assured and studied meditation on the question of whether life is worth living". Matthew Lucas of From the Front Row wrote:

Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film "simultaneously epic and precisely minuscule", writing that "it isn't until Badii meets the taxidermist that the film finds a lyrical voice to match its powerful visual imagery. His gorgeous, rough-hewn soliloquy about regaining his zest for life after trying to hang himself from a mulberry tree is a simple, eloquent parable of the senses opening to the refreshment of life's simple pleasures." According to Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic, "As the film's design becomes clear to us, a quiet spaciousness begins to inhabit it."

Of the minority of negative reviews, Roger Ebert's in The Chicago Sun-Times was the most scathing, giving the film 1 out of 4 stars. Ebert dismissed the film as "excruciatingly boring" and added, "I understand intellectually what Kiarostami is doing. I am not impatiently asking for action or incident. What I do feel, however, is that Kiarostami's style here is an affectation; the subject matter does not make it necessary, and is not benefited by it.