Alireza Khatami, the Iranian director who co-helmed “Terrestrial Verses” — which denounced the country’s authority and was the only film from Iran at Cannes this year — is directing “Things That You Kill,” a political drama about the patriarchy set in Turkey and featuring a starry cast.
Shooting recently wrapped in Turkey on Khatami’s new film, which stars Turkish A-listers Ekin Koç (“Burning Days”), Erkan Kolçakköstendil, Hazar Ergüçlü (“The Protector”) and Ercan Kesal.
The Canada-based Khatami’s first feature, “Oblivion Verses,” won the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti award for best screenplay in 2017. “Terrestrial Verses,” which Khatami co-directed with Tehran-based Ali Asgari, recently premiered in Un Certain Regard in Cannes. Shot in Tehran after the Mahsa Amini movement started, “Verses” consists of nine tableaus depicting the increasingly absurd and tragic plight that Iranians face in their everyday life with a scathingly ironic deadpan tone.
Khatami describes “Things That You Kill...
Shooting recently wrapped in Turkey on Khatami’s new film, which stars Turkish A-listers Ekin Koç (“Burning Days”), Erkan Kolçakköstendil, Hazar Ergüçlü (“The Protector”) and Ercan Kesal.
The Canada-based Khatami’s first feature, “Oblivion Verses,” won the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti award for best screenplay in 2017. “Terrestrial Verses,” which Khatami co-directed with Tehran-based Ali Asgari, recently premiered in Un Certain Regard in Cannes. Shot in Tehran after the Mahsa Amini movement started, “Verses” consists of nine tableaus depicting the increasingly absurd and tragic plight that Iranians face in their everyday life with a scathingly ironic deadpan tone.
Khatami describes “Things That You Kill...
- 8/23/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Being approachable and authentic is one of the key features of being a successful politician, sometimes even more so than actual expertise. The phrase “You know me”, which was an actual campaign slogan by German chancellor Angela Merkel at one point, emphasizes this understanding you know this person which smiles at you from the poster, the TV screen or any other campaign ad, implying a certain connection to the public. However, as with every kind of advertisement, it is an image that is being sold, rather than the actual person, a policy if you will which might even be detached from the man or woman that you see on the ad. This fascinating combination of image and identity that takes place here is one of the key themes in Ercan Kesal’s directing debut “You Know Him”, a feature exploring the machinations and image-building mechanisms in politics.
“You Know Him...
“You Know Him...
- 11/22/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The incongruously intimate story of a 1963 Turkish army coup attempt allows Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun the scope to take his mordant wit to new heights in his deadly serious yet deeply sardonic third feature, “The Announcement.” Rigidly composed fixed camera shots designed to heighten the atmosphere of entrapment do double duty as a self-reflexive commentary on the nature of characters who follow orders with no thought, while the stationary lens amusingly parallels the deadpan humor. Unquestionably a commentary on the Turkish present as much as the past, yet aiming for an enigmatic quality likely to confound the country’s censorship-happy authorities, “The Announcement” may struggle to find an audience aware of the political situation as well as open to the film’s funny side, but it deserves considerable festival play.
Nighttime in a taxi somewhere in Istanbul: Two stone-faced men are tense passengers as the driver nervously takes them through a...
Nighttime in a taxi somewhere in Istanbul: Two stone-faced men are tense passengers as the driver nervously takes them through a...
- 9/1/2018
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
A handful of men in 1963 Istanbul try to get to Istanbul Radio headquarters to announce a successful military coup in Ankara in the austerely staged tragicomedy The Announcement (Anons), the third feature from talented Turkish director Mahmut Fazil Coskun (Yozgat Blues). Nothing goes according to plan and yet this film, co-written by the director and actor turned screenwriter Ercan Kesal, is at least very loosely inspired by true events. Playing like an unholy mix of bone-dry comedy and a deadly serious meditation on the transience of those in power, this is a precision-tooled little gem that might nonetheless be a ...
A handful of men in 1963 Istanbul try to get to Istanbul Radio headquarters to announce a successful military coup in Ankara in the austerely staged tragicomedy The Announcement (Anons), the third feature from talented Turkish director Mahmut Fazil Coskun (Yozgat Blues). Nothing goes according to plan and yet this film, co-written by the director and actor turned screenwriter Ercan Kesal, is at least very loosely inspired by true events. Playing like an unholy mix of bone-dry comedy and a deadly serious meditation on the transience of those in power, this is a precision-tooled little gem that might nonetheless be a ...
New projects by Karabey, Aydogan, Sakaoglu among award winners at Istanbul Meetings
New film projects by Hüseyin Karabey, Zekeriya Aydoğan, and Sinem Sakaoğlu were among the award winners at the 10th edition of Meetings on the Bridge (April 15-16) during the Istanbul Film Festival.
Four awards were given to projects presented as part of this year’s Film Project Development Workshop and were decided by an international jury comprising of such leading industry figures as Meinolf Zurhorst (Zdf), Sergio Garcia De Leaniz (Eurimages), Gabrielle Dumon (Le Bureau Films), Giovanni Robbiano (Mediterranean Film Institute/Mfi) and Khalil Benkirane (Doha Film Institute).
The $ 10,000 Meetings On The Bridge Award went to German-born director Tarik Aktaş’ Dead Horse Nebula - about a sequence of incidents taking place around a small village -, while the € 10,000 Cnc Award was given to The Death of Father and Son by Zekeriya Aydoğan, a period drama set in the Kurdish society.
Aydoğan’s latest...
New film projects by Hüseyin Karabey, Zekeriya Aydoğan, and Sinem Sakaoğlu were among the award winners at the 10th edition of Meetings on the Bridge (April 15-16) during the Istanbul Film Festival.
Four awards were given to projects presented as part of this year’s Film Project Development Workshop and were decided by an international jury comprising of such leading industry figures as Meinolf Zurhorst (Zdf), Sergio Garcia De Leaniz (Eurimages), Gabrielle Dumon (Le Bureau Films), Giovanni Robbiano (Mediterranean Film Institute/Mfi) and Khalil Benkirane (Doha Film Institute).
The $ 10,000 Meetings On The Bridge Award went to German-born director Tarik Aktaş’ Dead Horse Nebula - about a sequence of incidents taking place around a small village -, while the € 10,000 Cnc Award was given to The Death of Father and Son by Zekeriya Aydoğan, a period drama set in the Kurdish society.
Aydoğan’s latest...
- 4/17/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Mahmut Fazil Koscum’s comedy drama wins top prize at Turkey’s Gloden Boll Film Festival.
Yozgat Blues, a comedy drama from director Mahmut Fazil Koscum, took the top prize at the 20th Golden Boll Film Festival in Adana, Turkey.
The film, about a music teacher and occassional performer in Istanbul who heads to the provinces for a gig, also won best actor for Ercan Kesal and best supporting actor for Tansu Bicer.
The jury, headed by Berlin’s Efm director Beki Probst, handed four awards to Deniz Aksay Katiksiz’ family drama Nobody’s Home, including a special jury prize; best actress award, shared by Ahu Tukpence and Lale Bser; best supporting actress (Melis Ebeler); and most promising young actor Savas Alp Basar.
Reha Erdem was crowned best director for Jin, which won an additional distinction for Most Promising Young Actress, Deniz Hasguler.
Historical drama The Long Way Home (Eve Donus) went home with Best Music (Mihaly...
Yozgat Blues, a comedy drama from director Mahmut Fazil Koscum, took the top prize at the 20th Golden Boll Film Festival in Adana, Turkey.
The film, about a music teacher and occassional performer in Istanbul who heads to the provinces for a gig, also won best actor for Ercan Kesal and best supporting actor for Tansu Bicer.
The jury, headed by Berlin’s Efm director Beki Probst, handed four awards to Deniz Aksay Katiksiz’ family drama Nobody’s Home, including a special jury prize; best actress award, shared by Ahu Tukpence and Lale Bser; best supporting actress (Melis Ebeler); and most promising young actor Savas Alp Basar.
Reha Erdem was crowned best director for Jin, which won an additional distinction for Most Promising Young Actress, Deniz Hasguler.
Historical drama The Long Way Home (Eve Donus) went home with Best Music (Mihaly...
- 9/23/2013
- by dfainaru@netvision.net.il (Edna Fainaru)
- ScreenDaily
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
Review by Dan Clark
Stars: Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel | Written by Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ercan Kesal | Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia has been garnering a lot of praise since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. After finally being able to sit down and watch it I too can throw my support behind this Turkish crime drama. Be warned the film runs over two and half hours and you feel every minute. The plotting is snail like and the story is basic, though somehow it remains thoroughly engaging.
The film follows police officers as they search for a missing body. The murderer has already confessed, but he doesn’t remember where he buried the body as it all happened when he was in a drunken stupor. Slowly...
Review by Dan Clark
Stars: Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel | Written by Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ercan Kesal | Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia has been garnering a lot of praise since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. After finally being able to sit down and watch it I too can throw my support behind this Turkish crime drama. Be warned the film runs over two and half hours and you feel every minute. The plotting is snail like and the story is basic, though somehow it remains thoroughly engaging.
The film follows police officers as they search for a missing body. The murderer has already confessed, but he doesn’t remember where he buried the body as it all happened when he was in a drunken stupor. Slowly...
- 12/16/2012
- by Guest
- Nerdly
At the end of a bumper year for film-making, Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw unveils the contenders for his very own – imaginary – film awards
Most critics compile year-end roundups in a mood of shrugging acceptance that not every year can be great. But actually 2012 has been vintage, with some really brilliant films from the biggest names doing their best work – and some fascinating documentaries. So once again, I have created my imaginary awards nominations in the following categories: best film, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best documentary and best screenplay. You will have to imagine me, in full tuxedo-style evening wear announcing the Braddies at the Dorchester. (I have put Seth MacFarlane, Michael Haneke and Kylie Minogue on my table.)
So, the nominations are …
Best film
Amour (dir. Michael Haneke)
The Master (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Holy Motors (dir. Leos Carax)
Killing Them Softly (dir.
Most critics compile year-end roundups in a mood of shrugging acceptance that not every year can be great. But actually 2012 has been vintage, with some really brilliant films from the biggest names doing their best work – and some fascinating documentaries. So once again, I have created my imaginary awards nominations in the following categories: best film, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best documentary and best screenplay. You will have to imagine me, in full tuxedo-style evening wear announcing the Braddies at the Dorchester. (I have put Seth MacFarlane, Michael Haneke and Kylie Minogue on my table.)
So, the nominations are …
Best film
Amour (dir. Michael Haneke)
The Master (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Holy Motors (dir. Leos Carax)
Killing Them Softly (dir.
- 12/13/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Michael Haneke’s Amour
Love (Amour) directed by Michael Haneke won the Best Feature Film award at the 33rd edition of the Durban International Film Festival that announced its award-winners on July 28, 2012.
The Best First Feature Film prize went to Julia Leigh for Sleeping Beauty (Australia).
The Best South African Feature Film was awarded to Adventures in Zambezia (South Africa), directed by Wayne Thornley.
The Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award went to Malika Zouhali-Worral and Katherine Fairfax Wright’s film Call Me Kuchu which focuses on attacks on gays in Uganda.
The full list of awards is:
Best Film: Love (Amour) (France, Austria, Germany), directed by Michael Haneke
Best South African Feature Film: Adventures in Zambezia (South Africa), directed by Wayne Thornley
Best First Feature Film: Sleeping Beauty (Australia), directed by Julia Leigh
Best Director: Benh Zeitlin for Beasts Of The Southern Wild (USA)
Best Actress: Deanie Ip in...
Love (Amour) directed by Michael Haneke won the Best Feature Film award at the 33rd edition of the Durban International Film Festival that announced its award-winners on July 28, 2012.
The Best First Feature Film prize went to Julia Leigh for Sleeping Beauty (Australia).
The Best South African Feature Film was awarded to Adventures in Zambezia (South Africa), directed by Wayne Thornley.
The Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award went to Malika Zouhali-Worral and Katherine Fairfax Wright’s film Call Me Kuchu which focuses on attacks on gays in Uganda.
The full list of awards is:
Best Film: Love (Amour) (France, Austria, Germany), directed by Michael Haneke
Best South African Feature Film: Adventures in Zambezia (South Africa), directed by Wayne Thornley
Best First Feature Film: Sleeping Beauty (Australia), directed by Julia Leigh
Best Director: Benh Zeitlin for Beasts Of The Southern Wild (USA)
Best Actress: Deanie Ip in...
- 7/29/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Trailer for Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, starring Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan The Cinema Guild drama and winner of the Prize of the Grand Jury , and nominee of the Palm d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, opens on January 4th. Starring in the Turkish film both scripted and directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Three Monkeys, Climates, Distant) are Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Firat Tanis and Ercan Kesal. In the dead of night, a group of men – among them a police commissioner, a prosecutor, a doctor and a murder suspect – drive through the Anatolian countryside, the serpentine roads and rolling hills lit only by the headlights of their cars. They are searching for a corpse, the victim of a brutal murder. The suspect, who claims he was drunk, can’t remember where he buried the body...
- 11/17/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Trailer for Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, starring Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan The Cinema Guild drama and winner of the Prize of the Grand Jury , and nominee of the Palm d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, opens on January 4th. Starring in the Turkish film both scripted and directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Three Monkeys, Climates, Distant) are Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Firat Tanis and Ercan Kesal. In the dead of night, a group of men – among them a police commissioner, a prosecutor, a doctor and a murder suspect – drive through the Anatolian countryside, the serpentine roads and rolling hills lit only by the headlights of their cars. They are searching for a corpse, the victim of a brutal murder. The suspect, who claims he was drunk, can’t remember where he buried the body...
- 11/17/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Trailer for Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, starring Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan The Cinema Guild drama and winner of the Prize of the Grand Jury , and nominee of the Palm d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, opens on January 4th. Starring in the Turkish film both scripted and directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Three Monkeys, Climates, Distant) are Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Firat Tanis and Ercan Kesal. In the dead of night, a group of men – among them a police commissioner, a prosecutor, a doctor and a murder suspect – drive through the Anatolian countryside, the serpentine roads and rolling hills lit only by the headlights of their cars. They are searching for a corpse, the victim of a brutal murder. The suspect, who claims he was drunk, can’t remember where he buried the body...
- 11/17/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Trailer for Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatola, starring Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan The Cinema Guild drama and winner of the Prize of the Grand Jury , and nominee of the Palm d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, opens on January 4th. Starring in the Turkish film both scripted and directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Three Monkeys, Climates, Distant) are Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Firat Tanis and Ercan Kesal. In the dead of night, a group of men – among them a police commissioner, a prosecutor, a doctor and a murder suspect – drive through the Anatolian countryside, the serpentine roads and rolling hills lit only by the headlights of their cars. They are searching for a corpse, the victim of a brutal murder. The suspect, who claims he was drunk, can’t remember where he buried the body...
- 11/17/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Chantal Akerman (center), Almayer's Folly World Cinema Selections Almayer's Folly: Chantal Akerman loosely adapts Joseph Conrad’s novel set in Malaysia, the tragic tale of a failed European trader and his "mixed blood" daughter. Dir Chantal Akerman. Cast Stanislas Merhar, Marc Barbé, Aurora Marion, Zac Andrianasolo. Belgium/France. U.S. Premiere. Alps: Dogtooth director Yorgos Lanthimos returns with a tale of a group offering an unusual service for grieving families: They inhabit the role of the recently deceased. Dir Yorgos Lanthimos. Scr Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou. Cast Aggeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Ariane Labed, Johnny Vekris. Greece/France. U.S. Premiere. CARRÉ Blanc: One of the strongest debuts in years, CARRÉ Blanc is a dystopian sci-fi vision of a world with limited resources and limitless cruelty. Dir/Scr Jean-Baptiste Léonetti. Cast Sami Bouajila, Julie Gayet, Jean-Pierre Andreani, Fejria Deliba, Valerie Bodson. France/Luxembourg/Russia/Belgium/Switzerland. The Day He Arrives:...
- 10/23/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Three Monkeys” and the Dardenne brothers’ “Le Silence de Lorna” are two films that provoked feelings of admiration at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, and not without reason. Ceylan is one of the consistent Turkish auteurs whose filmography is distinguished for the austere and cinematographic-specific way it treats its subject matter. The same applies to the Dardenne brothers who have created a distinctive filming style that deftly oscillates between emotional detachment and intense involvement.
Among other similarities, the two films share an emphasis on cinematographic narration in the way Robert Bresson understood it, that is, as a diegetic form that is not subservient to the plot or the scenario. In both films, the camera does not function as a means of reproduction of a pro-filmic reality, but as an instigator of emotions, gestures and responses that are not necessarily predetermined by the script. On the surface, they...
Among other similarities, the two films share an emphasis on cinematographic narration in the way Robert Bresson understood it, that is, as a diegetic form that is not subservient to the plot or the scenario. In both films, the camera does not function as a means of reproduction of a pro-filmic reality, but as an instigator of emotions, gestures and responses that are not necessarily predetermined by the script. On the surface, they...
- 6/29/2010
- by Angelos Koutsourakis
- The Moving Arts Journal
Release Date: May 1
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Writers: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cinematographer: Gökhan Tiryaki
Starring: Yavuz Bingol, Hartrice Aslan, Rifat Sungar, Ercan Kesal
Studio/Run Time: Zeitgeist, 109 mins.
Evil is subtle, but undeniable, in fascinating Turkish family drama
So much goes unsaid in Three Monkeys, that the simian alluded to in the title seems likely to be the one who “speaks no evil.” Likewise, in this Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Cannes-wowing noir, the two killings (one accidental, the other premeditated) that bookend the story are never seen. And what is heard, amid the torturously intimate unraveling of a Turkish family, is only as audible as a sigh, a quickening heartbeat, the crack of a palm across a face. Masterfully lensed in dark hues and long static shots, Monkeys tracks the consequences of a cover-up that sends a politician’s chauffeur to jail for a hit-and-run, instead of the guilty man.
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Writers: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cinematographer: Gökhan Tiryaki
Starring: Yavuz Bingol, Hartrice Aslan, Rifat Sungar, Ercan Kesal
Studio/Run Time: Zeitgeist, 109 mins.
Evil is subtle, but undeniable, in fascinating Turkish family drama
So much goes unsaid in Three Monkeys, that the simian alluded to in the title seems likely to be the one who “speaks no evil.” Likewise, in this Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Cannes-wowing noir, the two killings (one accidental, the other premeditated) that bookend the story are never seen. And what is heard, amid the torturously intimate unraveling of a Turkish family, is only as audible as a sigh, a quickening heartbeat, the crack of a palm across a face. Masterfully lensed in dark hues and long static shots, Monkeys tracks the consequences of a cover-up that sends a politician’s chauffeur to jail for a hit-and-run, instead of the guilty man.
- 6/24/2009
- Pastemagazine.com
Cannes film review, In Competition
It's no secret that the films of Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan are an acquired taste. They are as slow as molasses, but as discerning cinephiles discovered with "Distant" (2003) and "Climates" (2006), what a sweet flavor that molasses, properly savored, contains. "Three Monkeys" is no different, yet at the same time represents some tentative steps into new and welcome thematic territory.
Low-grossing theatrical releases can be expected in major cities around the world in which the long-take aesthetic is still appreciated, and ancillary sales, especially DVD, will be even better. It's a must for festivals with even modest art-film pretensions and, given Ceylan's highly developed visual sensibility, should especially appeal to art museum programrs.
Ceylan's usual focus on individuals has now been expanded to include a family, comprising a husband, Eyup, a wife, Hacer, and their teenage son Ismael. Eyup, the driver of a local politician named Servet, is convinced by the latter to take the rap for a death caused by a driving accident on the eve of elections. His sentence will be short, Servet explains, his family will continue to be paid his salary while he's in prison, and a lump sum will be waiting for him when he gets out.
All of this backstory is conveyed by voiceover in seconds, then gotten out of the way as the film settles in to a leisurely exposition of the daily life of mother and son. Nothing whatsoever seems to happen, yet little clues are constantly being planted that will continue to build throughout the film and lead to several grand, if understated, emotional payoffs.
No one currently working in cinema today can suggest an interior psychological state, solely through the camera's external observation of an unmoving character, as well as Ceylan can. Also, he uses the entire frame, which is always perfectly composed for maximum expressivity, whether in a long-held extreme long shot, or in a devastating close-up. Differential focusing and camera angle are also meticulously thought out, and the emotional tension created in a few purposely drawn-out scenes can be excruciating.
The new territory, besides the emphasis on family dynamics, includes the occasional unnerving appearance of a long-dead younger brother, and several subtle feints in the direction of a apparently new religious sensibility.
The film is not without blemishes. For one thing, Hacer's motivation for a rash act that severely threatens the family is barely sketched in, hence not quite believable. For another, Ceylan seems unsure how to end his film, which would require a decision concerning which themes to accent.
But these are small cavils in the face of a film whose every shot seems lifted right off the wall of an art gallery and just as powerfully, if quietly, satisfying.
Cast: Yavuz Bingol, Hatice Aslan, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Ercan Kesal. Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Screenwriter: Ebru Ceylan, Ercan Kesal, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Producer: Zeynep Ozbatur. Director of photography: Gokham Tiryaki. Art Director: Ebru Ceylan. Editor: Ayhan Ergursel, Bora Goksingol, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Sales: Pyramide International
No MPAA rating, 109 minutes.
It's no secret that the films of Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan are an acquired taste. They are as slow as molasses, but as discerning cinephiles discovered with "Distant" (2003) and "Climates" (2006), what a sweet flavor that molasses, properly savored, contains. "Three Monkeys" is no different, yet at the same time represents some tentative steps into new and welcome thematic territory.
Low-grossing theatrical releases can be expected in major cities around the world in which the long-take aesthetic is still appreciated, and ancillary sales, especially DVD, will be even better. It's a must for festivals with even modest art-film pretensions and, given Ceylan's highly developed visual sensibility, should especially appeal to art museum programrs.
Ceylan's usual focus on individuals has now been expanded to include a family, comprising a husband, Eyup, a wife, Hacer, and their teenage son Ismael. Eyup, the driver of a local politician named Servet, is convinced by the latter to take the rap for a death caused by a driving accident on the eve of elections. His sentence will be short, Servet explains, his family will continue to be paid his salary while he's in prison, and a lump sum will be waiting for him when he gets out.
All of this backstory is conveyed by voiceover in seconds, then gotten out of the way as the film settles in to a leisurely exposition of the daily life of mother and son. Nothing whatsoever seems to happen, yet little clues are constantly being planted that will continue to build throughout the film and lead to several grand, if understated, emotional payoffs.
No one currently working in cinema today can suggest an interior psychological state, solely through the camera's external observation of an unmoving character, as well as Ceylan can. Also, he uses the entire frame, which is always perfectly composed for maximum expressivity, whether in a long-held extreme long shot, or in a devastating close-up. Differential focusing and camera angle are also meticulously thought out, and the emotional tension created in a few purposely drawn-out scenes can be excruciating.
The new territory, besides the emphasis on family dynamics, includes the occasional unnerving appearance of a long-dead younger brother, and several subtle feints in the direction of a apparently new religious sensibility.
The film is not without blemishes. For one thing, Hacer's motivation for a rash act that severely threatens the family is barely sketched in, hence not quite believable. For another, Ceylan seems unsure how to end his film, which would require a decision concerning which themes to accent.
But these are small cavils in the face of a film whose every shot seems lifted right off the wall of an art gallery and just as powerfully, if quietly, satisfying.
Cast: Yavuz Bingol, Hatice Aslan, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Ercan Kesal. Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Screenwriter: Ebru Ceylan, Ercan Kesal, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Producer: Zeynep Ozbatur. Director of photography: Gokham Tiryaki. Art Director: Ebru Ceylan. Editor: Ayhan Ergursel, Bora Goksingol, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Sales: Pyramide International
No MPAA rating, 109 minutes.
- 5/16/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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