Jafar Panahi's Taxi

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was convicted of "anti-Islamic propaganda" for the social commentary found within his films and subsequently forbidden by the Iranian government in 2010 to make any more movies. Taxi is the third feature he's delivered since receiving the sentence and he is quite literally in the driver's seat of this guerilla film shot on the streets of Tehran, playing himself as a part-time cab driver in a friend's vehicle. It is filmed entirely on smartphones and dashboard cameras that never leave the cab but still constantly observe the world outside while also capturing conversations within. Panahi isn't much of a cabbie (a fact played for humor), but he is an engaging host and he prompts everyone who steps inside to converse about everything from movies to politics to the struggles of everyday life. Like many of his previous films, Taxi veers between documentary and drama, offering a sneaky, self-aware commentary on life in modern Iran that once again threads the needle of official policy while also drawing attention to censorship. Panahi flaunts his sentence with a gentle demeanor and easy smile that belie the very real consequences his defiance could bring down upon him. But the intelligence, humor, and sense of hope that Panahi communicates in the face of censorship also makes this an engaging as well as important film. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)