Went to see Bal after all the hype around the movie (probably due to winning the Golden Bear at the Biennale).
There were many problems with this movie for me. First and foremost I found the role of the main actor (boy playing Yusuf)extremely annoying. Maybe the whole 'boy who never speaks but whispers occasionally' thing should have added some feeling of intrigue on the part of the viewer. That did not really work for me as it was just annoying to watch the little brat stare in the distance 50% of the movie and never respond to any questions whatsoever / never interact with anybody. The pacing of the movie was painfully slow. I have nothing against movies where not a lot happens but this was just across the line of where entertainment ends and torture begins. Also the supposed 'symbolism' wasn't able to catch my interest (disappearing honey oh how witty never ever heard about the whole men vs. nature bs before). However, if you liked the movie 'Stellet Licht' (which I found to be nearly equally bad as this one) then you may also like Bal but why anybody would do so is beyond my comprehension....
There were many problems with this movie for me. First and foremost I found the role of the main actor (boy playing Yusuf)extremely annoying. Maybe the whole 'boy who never speaks but whispers occasionally' thing should have added some feeling of intrigue on the part of the viewer. That did not really work for me as it was just annoying to watch the little brat stare in the distance 50% of the movie and never respond to any questions whatsoever / never interact with anybody. The pacing of the movie was painfully slow. I have nothing against movies where not a lot happens but this was just across the line of where entertainment ends and torture begins. Also the supposed 'symbolism' wasn't able to catch my interest (disappearing honey oh how witty never ever heard about the whole men vs. nature bs before). However, if you liked the movie 'Stellet Licht' (which I found to be nearly equally bad as this one) then you may also like Bal but why anybody would do so is beyond my comprehension....