Film Matters Magazine

Curses, bad luck, and the special powers of the moon all emerge at one point or another in Norman Jewison’s magical Moonstruck (1987), almost providing audience members with the same viewing experience they would have with a fantasy film. Yet, the film excels as one of cinema’s most polished and revered romantic comedies, with the American Film Institute listing it as the eighth best romantic comedy in its “10 Top 10” list dedicated to the genre. Moonstruck flourishes due to the undeniably engrossing leading love interests Loretta Castorini (Cher), a self-assured Italian American widow residing in Brooklyn Heights, and Ronny Cammareri (Nicolas Cage), a volatile yet tender-hearted bakery worker, as the pair irrationally fall head over heels in a passion-induced night lit by a spell of the full moon. Despite Loretta’s engagement to Ronny’s estranged brother, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), she is still unexplainably smitten with Ronny, making for an irresistibly appealing plot.

Over 20 years after its initial release, Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s film Taste of Cherry (1997), an essential piece of cinematic civil service, still stands as a vital contemplation on the wearying yet worthwhile act of living. It calls attention to the beautiful intricacies of everyday life while also elevating the struggles that come with day-to-day mundanity in a manner similar to Italian Neorealist films of the 1940s. However, the latent uncertainty of Cherry’s protagonist furthers the film’s vision of delicate hopefulness through his curious one-off interactions with a diverse handful of Tehrani men whom he attempts to recruit in his suicide mission. Each offers his own particular insights into why they will or won’t help Mr. Badii, ultimately giving viewers a contemplative crash course on how to revel in the simplistic beauties of human nature. From a benign and innocent young Tehrani soldier to a dedicated priest-in-training from Afghanistan, Mr. Badii’s inquisitive encounters with others take time to soften his morbid determination.