Motherland (2015) User Reviews

Senem Tüzen's thought-provoking take on religious neighborhood pressure in modern-day Turkey.

[elsinefilo · 4 February 2017]

Senem Tüzen's directorial debut 'Motherland' tells the story of Nesrin, a young woman recently divorced from her actor husband. Nesrin (Esra Bezen Bilgin) returns to her hometown to finish up a novel she has been working on. She probably wants to be tuned in to her inner world at a time when she feels that her muse has deserted her. However, when her mother turns up at home against her daughter's wishes, she feels that inspiration is not the only thing that is leaving her. The story is set in a city called Nigde, which is a parochial town and one of the bastions of religious nationalism in Central Anatolia. Through the escalating tension between the mother and daughter in their everyday lives, Senem Tüzen seeks to capture the ambiance in which individuals are forced to conform to religious-conservative norms in every part of their lives. Nesrin is a divorced woman so she is not expected to live alone in a place she was born and bred. The fact that she often takes a walk on her own in her hometown is frowned upon by her mother's friends and neighbors. Her mother even gives her a scolding because she comes home after dark. Neighborhood Islamic pressure had always been a central source of deep anxiety for the secular in Turkey but liberals had often accused them of being overbearing and pompous. With the permeation of political Islam into the ideological state apparatus in the past fifteen years, we now know that the conservative people who was once labeled as 'victims' of secularism and Kemalism don't really care about the concept of living together or respecting others' space with their skin-deep internalized values and beliefs. I believe Senem Tüzen's film-making is a nice effort to show people that the driving force to make others conform to this close-knit but narrow-minded values does actually come from the grassroots, not necessarily just the state apparatus. Some of the things in the film, however, do not fit the bill. Nesrin's mother is a retired teacher but she is just like any other narrow-minded villager despite her education. With her untimely antics, she somehow turns into a cardboard character. She sort of loses the credibility. Just like any other art-house film-maker winking at festivals , Senem Tüzen makes use of different lights, various camera angles and several corners of the house like the gate and the writing room to make us feel that Nesrin does not feel free. She even feels suffocated. Tüzen can use all the symbols, all the camera angles or she can get personal with the camera any way she likes but when she finalizes her movie with a gratuitous sex-scene, well that sure feels more than a 'style over substance' moment and leaves you with ambiguous feelings that this movie could have been so much better.

Underrated film

[erdemhali · 9/10 · 14 November 2022]

While not a full-fledged one, it is an underrated movie that will be discovered years later as a hidden treasure.

Although there are some inexperiences, the overall feel of the movie is very strong. I think it is a movie that has a surprise for those who have patience, even if it is difficult to get in at first.

I would also like to state that the actor who played the lunatic should be especially mentioned.

There is nothing to be exaggerated about, but it is a film that should be kept separate from the works made in its period.

Senem Tüzen should be congratulated for a stunning debut film. I hope it's not a coincidence and she continues to make strong movies.