Turkish box office is up | Local hits have helped attract private money
By NICK HOLDSWORTH | Fri., Oct. 3, 2008,
As Turkey's Golden Orange Film Festival gets ready to kick off its 45th year, local films are burning up the wickets, with domestic pics set to capture some 50% of the country's box office this year.
A wave of local hits -- dominated by comedies and action movies -- has helped attract private money and investment from TV companies in home-grown product, Turkish film industry professionals say.
Box office figures for 2008 through August show the top six positions all taken by Turkish films, with comedy "Recep Ivedik" at the top of the list, pulling in 4.3 million viewers since its release late February.
"We are witnessing an explosion in the number of films being produced in Turkey," says Ahmet Boyacioglu, chairman of the Ankara Cinema Assn. "Two years ago, a couple of dozens films were produced, last year 43 (were made) and this year already around 60. Currently there are some 30 films waiting to be released, reflecting films from across a range of genres -- comedies, arthouse, personal (auteur) films."
Boyacioglu says it is hard to identify precisely what factors have contributed to the sharp increase in interest among audiences in domestic movies, but notes that institutional and industry investors have been quick to capitalize on it.
"Television channels are increasingly interested in buying films before they are shot, and we even have an example of a single private investor putting up the entire $2 million budget for one film currently in production," Boyacioglu adds.
Market share for Turkish films went from just 13% in 2002 to 51% in 2006, he says. Although the share dipped to 38% last year, latest figures suggest that by year's end the figure will be back up around 50%, with "Recep Ivedik" accounting for approximately 12% of total market share based on an average annual audience in Turkey of 30 million-35 million.
Figures like that are knocking some of Hollywood's best efforts off the charts: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" pulled in just 323,000 viewers.
"It's a disaster for American films. Why the Turkish people have decided to watch more Turkish films over the last six years I don't know, but now anyone with any interest or opportunity in cinema wants to make a film here," Boyacioglu says.
Although many of the blockbuster local films will rarely be seen beyond Turkey's borders -- or outside its large diaspora communities in countries such as Germany -- festival fare is also enjoying a new wave.
Turkish films have been featured heavily in the competition and showcase programs of virtually all European film festivals this year, with Nuri Bilge Ceylan's taking the director prize at Cannes this year for "Three Monkeys."
Other Turkish pics on festival and award radars include "Pandora's Box" by Yesim Ustaoglu; "Milk" by Semi Kaplanoglu; "Autumn" by Ozcan Alper; "My Marlon and Brando" by Huseyin Karabey; and Seyfi Teoman's feature debut "Summer Book."
Deniz Ziya Temeltas, of the Eurasia Production Platform and Film Market -- a professional sidebar that runs during the Eurasia film festival in Antalya -- says local films look likely to remain a force in Turkey for the foreseeable future.
"With the arrival of new festivals, production platforms and markets as well as various new media, there is a question whether the U.S. will be able keep its market share," Ziya Temeltas says. "More and more local productions are airing on primetime TV. ... In Turkey, there is not a U.S. series on a major network in primetime."
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Review | Climates
Climates
by John P. McCarthy
posted August 1, 2008 10:00 AM
Changeable weather is nothing compared to the immutability of a human being
Being in love with a narcissist is ultimately boring. Witnessing self-obsession up close might be exciting initially, but eventually the spectacle fails to divert. Once the frisson evaporates, narcissists are impossible to endure; their glaring faults can't be ignored or excused. The viewer experiences something akin to this watching the protagonist of Climates -- a middle-aged professor named Isa, played by writer/director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Fortunately, Ceylan provides compensatory distractions. His carefully structured film is visually and aurally beautiful and amounts to a devastating portrait of a lonely relationship and a chillingly selfish man.
What does Isa bring to the party? He's handsome enough and has a good job teaching architecture at a university in Istanbul. But he's lazy (unable to finish his thesis), perpetually dissatisfied with the weather, immature and prone to stalking. To coin an oxymoron, he's a quiet boor. And this negative judgment has little to do with the rough sex he has with a friend's companion, although that ongoing dalliance is a major sticking point between Isa and his younger girlfriend, Bahar, a television art director portrayed by Ceylan's real-life wife, Minnie Driver look-a-like Ebru Ceylan. We meet the pair in the ruins of a temple near an Aegean resort in southwestern Turkey; we leave them during a snowstorm in the east. In between, they've broken up, and he's retreated further into his apathetic, loathsome self. The film goes from the extremes of summer heat to winter cold, but all the while Isa remains tepid toward Bahar and everyone he encounters. It's unclear whether his sneakily superficial, passive-aggressive personality is supposed to have any broader cultural meaning concerning gender relations.
Climates is spare regarding dialogue and plot, lush when it comes to faces, light and topography. Ceylan's background as an engineer and photographer are in evidence. The sound design is remarkably precise -- you'll hear a cigarette burn and a nut being chewed as if for the first time -- and the high-def cinematography is fabulous both in close-ups and long shots. The tightly rolled film contains no melodramatic filler, and Ceylan's clear-eyed performance is nothing short of brave.
Distributor: Zeitgeist
Cast: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Nazan Kesal, Mehmet Eryilmaz, Arif Asci and Can Ozbatur
Director/Screenwriter: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Producer: Zeynep Ozbatur
Genre: Drama; Turkish-language, subtitled
Rating: Not rated
Running time: 97 min.
Release date: October 27
by John P. McCarthy
posted August 1, 2008 10:00 AM
Changeable weather is nothing compared to the immutability of a human being
Being in love with a narcissist is ultimately boring. Witnessing self-obsession up close might be exciting initially, but eventually the spectacle fails to divert. Once the frisson evaporates, narcissists are impossible to endure; their glaring faults can't be ignored or excused. The viewer experiences something akin to this watching the protagonist of Climates -- a middle-aged professor named Isa, played by writer/director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Fortunately, Ceylan provides compensatory distractions. His carefully structured film is visually and aurally beautiful and amounts to a devastating portrait of a lonely relationship and a chillingly selfish man.
What does Isa bring to the party? He's handsome enough and has a good job teaching architecture at a university in Istanbul. But he's lazy (unable to finish his thesis), perpetually dissatisfied with the weather, immature and prone to stalking. To coin an oxymoron, he's a quiet boor. And this negative judgment has little to do with the rough sex he has with a friend's companion, although that ongoing dalliance is a major sticking point between Isa and his younger girlfriend, Bahar, a television art director portrayed by Ceylan's real-life wife, Minnie Driver look-a-like Ebru Ceylan. We meet the pair in the ruins of a temple near an Aegean resort in southwestern Turkey; we leave them during a snowstorm in the east. In between, they've broken up, and he's retreated further into his apathetic, loathsome self. The film goes from the extremes of summer heat to winter cold, but all the while Isa remains tepid toward Bahar and everyone he encounters. It's unclear whether his sneakily superficial, passive-aggressive personality is supposed to have any broader cultural meaning concerning gender relations.
Climates is spare regarding dialogue and plot, lush when it comes to faces, light and topography. Ceylan's background as an engineer and photographer are in evidence. The sound design is remarkably precise -- you'll hear a cigarette burn and a nut being chewed as if for the first time -- and the high-def cinematography is fabulous both in close-ups and long shots. The tightly rolled film contains no melodramatic filler, and Ceylan's clear-eyed performance is nothing short of brave.
Distributor: Zeitgeist
Cast: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Nazan Kesal, Mehmet Eryilmaz, Arif Asci and Can Ozbatur
Director/Screenwriter: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Producer: Zeynep Ozbatur
Genre: Drama; Turkish-language, subtitled
Rating: Not rated
Running time: 97 min.
Release date: October 27
Review | Crossing The Bridge: The Sound Of Istanbul
Crossing The Bridge: The Sound Of Istanbul
by Sheri Linden
posted August 1, 2008 10:00 AM
Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin follows up Berlin fest prize winner "Head On" with this valentine to Istanbul. The city's fusion of East and West, traditional and modern is evident in the assortment of musicians who perform for Akin's cameras. They all make vivid impressions in the exuberant "Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul," but the multi-subject approach dilutes the impact of the film.
German bassist Alexander Hacke, who fell for the Turkish city while recording songs for "Head On," is the tour guide on this musician's-eye view of the metropolis. The scruffy musicologist sometimes sits in with the groups he records, among them psychedelic underground band Baba Zula. More often than not he's beaming from the sidelines, whether at hip-hop artists, rock bands Duman and Replikas, anti-corporate buskers or veteran performers like chanteuse Sezen Aksu, who increasingly blends regional traditions into her pop brew. The marriage of European and Asian influences echoes throughout the film. Composer and onetime movie star Orhan Gencebay (seen in scratchy clips from '70s action flicks) alarmed conservatives when he incorporated Egyptian and Western techniques into the music he plays on the saz, a type of lute. Clarinetist Selim Sesler's reed wails with Romany-influenced plaintive joy, reminiscent of klezmer.
The film touches upon cultural and political issues, not least the Turkish government's recently lifted ban on the Kurdish language. Even so, "Crossing the Bridge" is resolutely celebratory. Varied settings--boat, café, park, ancient spa--provide a rich visual backdrop, and judiciously used vintage clips offer intriguing glimpses of Istanbul through the years. Directed and written by Fatih Akin. Produced by Fatih Akin, Klaus Maeck, Andreas Thiel, Sandra Harzer-Kux and Christian Kux. A Strand release. Documentary. Turkish- and German-language; subtitled. Unrated. Running time: 90 min
by Sheri Linden
posted August 1, 2008 10:00 AM
Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin follows up Berlin fest prize winner "Head On" with this valentine to Istanbul. The city's fusion of East and West, traditional and modern is evident in the assortment of musicians who perform for Akin's cameras. They all make vivid impressions in the exuberant "Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul," but the multi-subject approach dilutes the impact of the film.
German bassist Alexander Hacke, who fell for the Turkish city while recording songs for "Head On," is the tour guide on this musician's-eye view of the metropolis. The scruffy musicologist sometimes sits in with the groups he records, among them psychedelic underground band Baba Zula. More often than not he's beaming from the sidelines, whether at hip-hop artists, rock bands Duman and Replikas, anti-corporate buskers or veteran performers like chanteuse Sezen Aksu, who increasingly blends regional traditions into her pop brew. The marriage of European and Asian influences echoes throughout the film. Composer and onetime movie star Orhan Gencebay (seen in scratchy clips from '70s action flicks) alarmed conservatives when he incorporated Egyptian and Western techniques into the music he plays on the saz, a type of lute. Clarinetist Selim Sesler's reed wails with Romany-influenced plaintive joy, reminiscent of klezmer.
The film touches upon cultural and political issues, not least the Turkish government's recently lifted ban on the Kurdish language. Even so, "Crossing the Bridge" is resolutely celebratory. Varied settings--boat, café, park, ancient spa--provide a rich visual backdrop, and judiciously used vintage clips offer intriguing glimpses of Istanbul through the years. Directed and written by Fatih Akin. Produced by Fatih Akin, Klaus Maeck, Andreas Thiel, Sandra Harzer-Kux and Christian Kux. A Strand release. Documentary. Turkish- and German-language; subtitled. Unrated. Running time: 90 min
Review | Distant (uzak)
Distant (uzak)
by Shlomo Schwartzberg
posted August 1, 2008 10:00 AM
Urban meets rural when two cousins reconnect in modern Istanbul in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's intelligent but dry Cannes award winner. Well-established photographer Mahmut (Muzaffer Ozdemir) leads a prosperous but lonely existence in the city. Enter his newly unemployed village cousin Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak), who wants to sign up on board a ship and sail the world. Mahmut cautions him against false hopes but otherwise doesn't do much to help his cousin, nor does he really want him around. Yusuf, for his part, doesn't respect Mahmut's house rules and friction between the two men quickly comes to the fore. The irony is that both men are more alike than they will admit.
While the two leads richly deserved the Best Actor award they shared at Cannes (posthumously in the case of Toprak, who died tragically in a car accident just after the film's completion), director Nuri Bilge Ceylan fails to build on the emotional undercurrents present in the script. "Distant" actually lives up to its title; it's a muted, uninvolving film. Starring Muzaffer Ozdemir, Mehmet Emin Toprak and Zuhal Gencer. Directed, written and produced by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. A New Yorker release. Drama. Turkish-language; subtitled. Unrated. Running time: 110 min
by Shlomo Schwartzberg
posted August 1, 2008 10:00 AM
Urban meets rural when two cousins reconnect in modern Istanbul in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's intelligent but dry Cannes award winner. Well-established photographer Mahmut (Muzaffer Ozdemir) leads a prosperous but lonely existence in the city. Enter his newly unemployed village cousin Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak), who wants to sign up on board a ship and sail the world. Mahmut cautions him against false hopes but otherwise doesn't do much to help his cousin, nor does he really want him around. Yusuf, for his part, doesn't respect Mahmut's house rules and friction between the two men quickly comes to the fore. The irony is that both men are more alike than they will admit.
While the two leads richly deserved the Best Actor award they shared at Cannes (posthumously in the case of Toprak, who died tragically in a car accident just after the film's completion), director Nuri Bilge Ceylan fails to build on the emotional undercurrents present in the script. "Distant" actually lives up to its title; it's a muted, uninvolving film. Starring Muzaffer Ozdemir, Mehmet Emin Toprak and Zuhal Gencer. Directed, written and produced by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. A New Yorker release. Drama. Turkish-language; subtitled. Unrated. Running time: 110 min
Review | Head-on
Head-on
by Susan Green
posted August 1, 2008 10:00 AM
The intensity gives way to only brief glimpses of humor or tenderness in "Head-On," as much a cautionary tale about obsession as it is a sociological commentary on the clash of cultures. Fatih Akin's seamless film, which earned a Golden Bear at the 2004 Berlinale, never settles for the ordinary. The 40-year-old Cahit (a mesmerizing Birol Unel) appears to be a hopeless alcoholic bent on killing himself with booze. But unlike Nicolas Cage's over-the-top drunk in "Leaving Las Vegas," this long-haired Turkish immigrant living in Hamburg slowly and subtly peels away layers of anguish.
When an inebriated Cahit smashes his car into a brick wall, he survives but winds up in a mental hospital. His self-pity is interrupted by Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), a presumably suicidal patient who immediately proposes to him. There's plenty of method to her madness. A secret hedonist, she wants to escape the suffocating Middle Eastern code of behavior that her partially assimilated family insists a Muslim girl must follow. If she continues carousing, Sibel risks an honor killing at the hands of her older brother. The perfect solution might be a marriage of convenience to a Turk, who happens to be twice her age, with no romantic or carnal notions about the arrangement. And a woman is always her husband's property in the Old World way of thinking, so the in-laws will butt out.
In return for a loveless wedding, Sibel promises to keep Cahit in beer. At first, the situation seems ideal. She goes out dancing every night and sleeps with a succession of strangers. He drinks and engages in periodic sex with Maren (Catrin Striebeck), a hairdresser who has known him for some time. Naturally, everything changes. That's when the wrenching consequences of their illusions catch up with these tormented creatures. Starring Birol Unel, Sibel Kekilli, Catrin Striebeck, Guven Kirac, Cem Akin, Aysel Iscan, Demir Gokgol and Stefan Gebelhoff. Directed and written by Fatih Akin. Produced by Ralph Schwingel and Stefan Schubert. A Strand release. Drama. German- and Turkish-language; subtitled. Rated R for strong graphic sexuality, pervasive language, some brutal violence and drug content. Running time: 123 min
by Susan Green
posted August 1, 2008 10:00 AM
The intensity gives way to only brief glimpses of humor or tenderness in "Head-On," as much a cautionary tale about obsession as it is a sociological commentary on the clash of cultures. Fatih Akin's seamless film, which earned a Golden Bear at the 2004 Berlinale, never settles for the ordinary. The 40-year-old Cahit (a mesmerizing Birol Unel) appears to be a hopeless alcoholic bent on killing himself with booze. But unlike Nicolas Cage's over-the-top drunk in "Leaving Las Vegas," this long-haired Turkish immigrant living in Hamburg slowly and subtly peels away layers of anguish.
When an inebriated Cahit smashes his car into a brick wall, he survives but winds up in a mental hospital. His self-pity is interrupted by Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), a presumably suicidal patient who immediately proposes to him. There's plenty of method to her madness. A secret hedonist, she wants to escape the suffocating Middle Eastern code of behavior that her partially assimilated family insists a Muslim girl must follow. If she continues carousing, Sibel risks an honor killing at the hands of her older brother. The perfect solution might be a marriage of convenience to a Turk, who happens to be twice her age, with no romantic or carnal notions about the arrangement. And a woman is always her husband's property in the Old World way of thinking, so the in-laws will butt out.
In return for a loveless wedding, Sibel promises to keep Cahit in beer. At first, the situation seems ideal. She goes out dancing every night and sleeps with a succession of strangers. He drinks and engages in periodic sex with Maren (Catrin Striebeck), a hairdresser who has known him for some time. Naturally, everything changes. That's when the wrenching consequences of their illusions catch up with these tormented creatures. Starring Birol Unel, Sibel Kekilli, Catrin Striebeck, Guven Kirac, Cem Akin, Aysel Iscan, Demir Gokgol and Stefan Gebelhoff. Directed and written by Fatih Akin. Produced by Ralph Schwingel and Stefan Schubert. A Strand release. Drama. German- and Turkish-language; subtitled. Rated R for strong graphic sexuality, pervasive language, some brutal violence and drug content. Running time: 123 min
Review | Times and Winds (Bes Vakit)
Times and Winds (Bes Vakit)
by Pete Hammond
Print Article
posted June 12, 2008 10:21 AM
Erdem's look at life in a Turkish village will please arthouse crowds
Deriving its power and poignancy in small doses rather than from any false sense of drama, this contemplative and quiet look at life filtered through the eyes of three young people in a small Turkish village is an accomplished piece of arthouse cinema that should please discerning audiences in limited runs around the country. Although it may be too slight or even dull for some, the deceptive style employed by its talented writer and director, Reha Erdem, is involving, graceful and always visually compelling. Expect decent box office returns, particularly from aficionados of Turkish cinema.
Times And Winds (Turkish title Bes Vakit) takes place in a beautifully situated (“between earth and sea, rocks and sky”) but poor Turkish village, home to a simple but dedicated breed who make their living off the land and the animals. Their priorities and values seem light years away from most lifestyles we know.
Omer (Ozkan Ozen) and Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali) are best friends who often hang out on rocks in the hills, contemplating their hopes and dreams. Omer goes so far as to wish his father were dead and even shares with Yakup his plans to kill him. Oddly, Yakup begins dreaming about doing the same thing to his dad after catching him spying on the teacher the boy secretly has a crush on.
They are both friends with Yildiz (Elit Iscan), a young girl who tries to follow in her own mother’s footsteps managing her home and looking after her baby brother. Together all three are learning new things and feelings as they are about to embark on their teenage years.
The adults in the film don’t seem as enlightened, or at least as interesting to watch as the younger set, but everyone just seems to be trying to eke out a day-to-day existence in the only kind of world they have ever known.
The times of the title refer to their daily rituals, broken up in five categories including prayer, talk and mundane events. As the director states, the rhythm of time is also the rhythm of the movie; a feat he achieves by simply letting his story breathe and flow on its own accord. Like his previous films, particularly Run, For Money and Mommy, I’m Scared, pacing does not seem to be of great concern to Erdem, a big plus in setting the crucial mood and tone of Times and Winds.
Performances in this unique coming-of-age story are generally fine but, for the most part, don’t offer any big dramatic moments, just nice minimalist acting particularly from the three child actors.
This movie obviously isn’t for everyone, but audiences looking for an antidote to the Iron Man/Incredible Hulk brand of summer fare will find small pleasures and great value in this leisurely, beautifully photographed (by Florent Herry in full 2.35:1 ratio widescreen glory) look at life so remote it could be on another planet.
Distributor: Kino International
Cast: Ozkan Ozen, Ali Bey Kayali, Elit Iscan, Bulent Emin Yarar, Taner Birsel, Yigit Ozsener and Selma Ergec.
Director/Screenwriter: Reha Erdem
Producer: Omer Atay
Genre: Drama
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 111 min.
Release date: June 13
by Pete Hammond
Print Article
posted June 12, 2008 10:21 AM
Erdem's look at life in a Turkish village will please arthouse crowds
Deriving its power and poignancy in small doses rather than from any false sense of drama, this contemplative and quiet look at life filtered through the eyes of three young people in a small Turkish village is an accomplished piece of arthouse cinema that should please discerning audiences in limited runs around the country. Although it may be too slight or even dull for some, the deceptive style employed by its talented writer and director, Reha Erdem, is involving, graceful and always visually compelling. Expect decent box office returns, particularly from aficionados of Turkish cinema.
Times And Winds (Turkish title Bes Vakit) takes place in a beautifully situated (“between earth and sea, rocks and sky”) but poor Turkish village, home to a simple but dedicated breed who make their living off the land and the animals. Their priorities and values seem light years away from most lifestyles we know.
Omer (Ozkan Ozen) and Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali) are best friends who often hang out on rocks in the hills, contemplating their hopes and dreams. Omer goes so far as to wish his father were dead and even shares with Yakup his plans to kill him. Oddly, Yakup begins dreaming about doing the same thing to his dad after catching him spying on the teacher the boy secretly has a crush on.
They are both friends with Yildiz (Elit Iscan), a young girl who tries to follow in her own mother’s footsteps managing her home and looking after her baby brother. Together all three are learning new things and feelings as they are about to embark on their teenage years.
The adults in the film don’t seem as enlightened, or at least as interesting to watch as the younger set, but everyone just seems to be trying to eke out a day-to-day existence in the only kind of world they have ever known.
The times of the title refer to their daily rituals, broken up in five categories including prayer, talk and mundane events. As the director states, the rhythm of time is also the rhythm of the movie; a feat he achieves by simply letting his story breathe and flow on its own accord. Like his previous films, particularly Run, For Money and Mommy, I’m Scared, pacing does not seem to be of great concern to Erdem, a big plus in setting the crucial mood and tone of Times and Winds.
Performances in this unique coming-of-age story are generally fine but, for the most part, don’t offer any big dramatic moments, just nice minimalist acting particularly from the three child actors.
This movie obviously isn’t for everyone, but audiences looking for an antidote to the Iron Man/Incredible Hulk brand of summer fare will find small pleasures and great value in this leisurely, beautifully photographed (by Florent Herry in full 2.35:1 ratio widescreen glory) look at life so remote it could be on another planet.
Distributor: Kino International
Cast: Ozkan Ozen, Ali Bey Kayali, Elit Iscan, Bulent Emin Yarar, Taner Birsel, Yigit Ozsener and Selma Ergec.
Director/Screenwriter: Reha Erdem
Producer: Omer Atay
Genre: Drama
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 111 min.
Release date: June 13
Review | The Edge of Heaven
The Edge of Heaven
by Matthew Nestel
Print Article
posted May 22, 2008 6:20 PM
Heaven makes for an enchanting brew
An ode to youth and homelands, this fictional tale lives up to its searing title. Yeter (Nursel Kose) is a prostitute by day and a mother always. She gambles on a degenerate widowed john who can’t handle his drink. His got-it-together German lit professor son Nejat (Baki Davrak) is well endowed with principal and purpose despite the chaos that comes knocking on his door. Add a couple of doe-eyed females chasing love against all odds, and it all steeps an enchanting brew that holds on the tongue and will draw heaps of folks back to their seats for seconds.
Time is tweaked throughout the film. We begin at the present but work backwards and forwards and then backwards again, only to return to the start. It’s a device that some filmmakers can get too carried away with. Luckily, writer/director Faith Akin lets the storyline and the characters captain this edifying journey involving several concentrically circled plots chaptered by some of their deaths.
It could have been any one of the fleshy call girls standing front and center behind a glass pane along a Hamburg red light district stretch. But Ali (Tuncel Turkiz) saw Yeter, and that was enough. She’s a Turk and so is he. But conversation tickles beyond the same old chitchat, and after a few turns in the sack Ali’s offering her a chance to leave the trick life and live and sleep with him alone. Given the perils of her trade, the Turkish transplant takes the bait.
Meantime in Turkey, her prized rebel daughter Ayten exists under the safe pretense that her mother vends shoes not sex. Seeking asylum from Turkey for her unfavorable political beliefs, she ditches out of town to avoid a fated prison sentence. Soon enough, Ayten sours on the resistance movement and lucks onto a naïve linguistics student at a Hamburg university named Lotte. The two become more than friends and perturb Lotte’s self-righteous mom. Once the law catches up with Ayten, Lotte is forced to abandon the comforts of subsidies. Her mother pulls the plug altogether, tossing her daughter into the throes of survival.
The rest of the film is a sort of collection of chance encounters—some that happen and others that could have happened. Each character, despite the end result, shares the striving for this ultimate oasis. Stumbling on a beggar may change your life for good or worse. A hooker sometimes has more scruples than the lot of goody two shoes. And despite the attraction to denounce parent or child, there is an unbridled sense that a connection is there and must be taken for more than face value.
Narrative is too often discounted for not being real enough to conjure humanity’s discourse. At times, this is fair. Here, the filmmaker took out the tracings of fat and honed in very deliberately on what makes these people tick. The characters and the emotions of the various cities are pinpointed with precision, putting to rest much of the tone-deaf predecessors that attempt the same but riddle with hollowed bullets of thought that just sit like an apple box on the dressed set.
B-roll shots are masterful. Driving along the outskirts of Turkey, there are the screaming skies, the awing sea, the beautiful chaos on city squares and bus roundabouts. Day and night. See an elderly farmer gathering olives and nuts, a saz-playing man on a hill whose notes backdrop the green rolling hills. You get the sense that Akin has stood on the grounds of these places for long lengths and knew the pulse of each because every shot hits.
Words are not always needed, and the writer in Akin let the sounds and visuals make their noises with grace. There is tragedy in this film, and many missed opportunities that could have salvaged a happier end. Ali, the scumbag pop, gets wily with the liquor, and despite a heart attack he manages to land himself in the clink. He even outlives some of the youths in the film. The seed is planted for son and father to reconcile away from Germany, in a remote spot in Turkey. Ayten ventures out to find her mother, and instead finds another unsuspecting guardian.
The film’s focus is a tad obscured by the political injections that make their point and yet there is mistakenly a need to fasten a wider bit to drill it into the heads of the viewer. Much of the “up yours” to bureaucracy is superfluous.
This picture summits difficult terrain. Though uneasy to think about all the frayed ends left here, that’s just what gives it so much oomph. No pretty bows, just a bunch of twisted knots and mangled braids and the sight of it all is just remarkable: Flawed humanity at its best. What’s more, one can comprehend quickly that there is a love for the constantly morphing creature that Europe is, and the filmmaker italicizes this. The clashing stages are distinct, but also share plenty of common bonds. And the characters that dance on them are given license to move and fall as they please. Consider your ticket a passport to shadow this dance.
Distributor: Strand
Cast: Baki Davrak, Nursel Köse, Hanna Schygulla, Tunçel Kuritz, Nurgül Yesilçay and Patrycia Ziokowska
Director/Screenwriter: Faith Akin
Producers: Andreas Thiel, Klaus Maek and Faith Akin
Genre: Drama; German-, Turkish- and English-language, subtitled
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 116 min.
Release date: May 23 ltd.
by Matthew Nestel
Print Article
posted May 22, 2008 6:20 PM
Heaven makes for an enchanting brew
An ode to youth and homelands, this fictional tale lives up to its searing title. Yeter (Nursel Kose) is a prostitute by day and a mother always. She gambles on a degenerate widowed john who can’t handle his drink. His got-it-together German lit professor son Nejat (Baki Davrak) is well endowed with principal and purpose despite the chaos that comes knocking on his door. Add a couple of doe-eyed females chasing love against all odds, and it all steeps an enchanting brew that holds on the tongue and will draw heaps of folks back to their seats for seconds.
Time is tweaked throughout the film. We begin at the present but work backwards and forwards and then backwards again, only to return to the start. It’s a device that some filmmakers can get too carried away with. Luckily, writer/director Faith Akin lets the storyline and the characters captain this edifying journey involving several concentrically circled plots chaptered by some of their deaths.
It could have been any one of the fleshy call girls standing front and center behind a glass pane along a Hamburg red light district stretch. But Ali (Tuncel Turkiz) saw Yeter, and that was enough. She’s a Turk and so is he. But conversation tickles beyond the same old chitchat, and after a few turns in the sack Ali’s offering her a chance to leave the trick life and live and sleep with him alone. Given the perils of her trade, the Turkish transplant takes the bait.
Meantime in Turkey, her prized rebel daughter Ayten exists under the safe pretense that her mother vends shoes not sex. Seeking asylum from Turkey for her unfavorable political beliefs, she ditches out of town to avoid a fated prison sentence. Soon enough, Ayten sours on the resistance movement and lucks onto a naïve linguistics student at a Hamburg university named Lotte. The two become more than friends and perturb Lotte’s self-righteous mom. Once the law catches up with Ayten, Lotte is forced to abandon the comforts of subsidies. Her mother pulls the plug altogether, tossing her daughter into the throes of survival.
The rest of the film is a sort of collection of chance encounters—some that happen and others that could have happened. Each character, despite the end result, shares the striving for this ultimate oasis. Stumbling on a beggar may change your life for good or worse. A hooker sometimes has more scruples than the lot of goody two shoes. And despite the attraction to denounce parent or child, there is an unbridled sense that a connection is there and must be taken for more than face value.
Narrative is too often discounted for not being real enough to conjure humanity’s discourse. At times, this is fair. Here, the filmmaker took out the tracings of fat and honed in very deliberately on what makes these people tick. The characters and the emotions of the various cities are pinpointed with precision, putting to rest much of the tone-deaf predecessors that attempt the same but riddle with hollowed bullets of thought that just sit like an apple box on the dressed set.
B-roll shots are masterful. Driving along the outskirts of Turkey, there are the screaming skies, the awing sea, the beautiful chaos on city squares and bus roundabouts. Day and night. See an elderly farmer gathering olives and nuts, a saz-playing man on a hill whose notes backdrop the green rolling hills. You get the sense that Akin has stood on the grounds of these places for long lengths and knew the pulse of each because every shot hits.
Words are not always needed, and the writer in Akin let the sounds and visuals make their noises with grace. There is tragedy in this film, and many missed opportunities that could have salvaged a happier end. Ali, the scumbag pop, gets wily with the liquor, and despite a heart attack he manages to land himself in the clink. He even outlives some of the youths in the film. The seed is planted for son and father to reconcile away from Germany, in a remote spot in Turkey. Ayten ventures out to find her mother, and instead finds another unsuspecting guardian.
The film’s focus is a tad obscured by the political injections that make their point and yet there is mistakenly a need to fasten a wider bit to drill it into the heads of the viewer. Much of the “up yours” to bureaucracy is superfluous.
This picture summits difficult terrain. Though uneasy to think about all the frayed ends left here, that’s just what gives it so much oomph. No pretty bows, just a bunch of twisted knots and mangled braids and the sight of it all is just remarkable: Flawed humanity at its best. What’s more, one can comprehend quickly that there is a love for the constantly morphing creature that Europe is, and the filmmaker italicizes this. The clashing stages are distinct, but also share plenty of common bonds. And the characters that dance on them are given license to move and fall as they please. Consider your ticket a passport to shadow this dance.
Distributor: Strand
Cast: Baki Davrak, Nursel Köse, Hanna Schygulla, Tunçel Kuritz, Nurgül Yesilçay and Patrycia Ziokowska
Director/Screenwriter: Faith Akin
Producers: Andreas Thiel, Klaus Maek and Faith Akin
Genre: Drama; German-, Turkish- and English-language, subtitled
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 116 min.
Release date: May 23 ltd.
2008 | Top 20 in Turkish Box Office
Rank Movie | Title | Distributor | Gross Release | Release Date
1 Recep Ivedik Ozen Film $24,632,784 2/22
2 A.R.O.G UIP $14,104,253 12/5
3 Muro: Nalet olsun içimdeki insan sevgisine Ozen Film $7,917,721 12/5
4 Issiz Adam Cinefilm $7,458,692 11/7
5 Osmanli Cumhuriyeti UIP $6,706,849 11/21
6 Maskeli Besler Kibris UIP $5,575,199 1/11
7 Mustafa WB $5,424,054 10/29
8 Çilgin dersane kampta Ozen Film $5,284,100 1/11
9 O... Çocuklari Kenda $4,358,771 5/16
10 120 Ozen Film $4,070,544 2/15
11 Journey to the Center of the Earth Medyavizyon $3,585,149 7/18
12 Ulak UIP $3,120,666 1/25
13 The Dark Knight WB $3,002,678 7/25
14 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor UIP $2,899,904 8/1
15 I Am Legend WB $2,649,122 1/25
16 10,000 B.C. WB $2,638,274 3/7
17 Saw V WB $2,487,056 10/24
18 National Treasure: Book of Secrets UIP $2,233,999 1/4
19 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull UIP $2,167,823 5/23
20 Hancock WB $2,096,269 7/4
Foreign films in bold
1 Recep Ivedik Ozen Film $24,632,784 2/22
2 A.R.O.G UIP $14,104,253 12/5
3 Muro: Nalet olsun içimdeki insan sevgisine Ozen Film $7,917,721 12/5
4 Issiz Adam Cinefilm $7,458,692 11/7
5 Osmanli Cumhuriyeti UIP $6,706,849 11/21
6 Maskeli Besler Kibris UIP $5,575,199 1/11
7 Mustafa WB $5,424,054 10/29
8 Çilgin dersane kampta Ozen Film $5,284,100 1/11
9 O... Çocuklari Kenda $4,358,771 5/16
10 120 Ozen Film $4,070,544 2/15
11 Journey to the Center of the Earth Medyavizyon $3,585,149 7/18
12 Ulak UIP $3,120,666 1/25
13 The Dark Knight WB $3,002,678 7/25
14 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor UIP $2,899,904 8/1
15 I Am Legend WB $2,649,122 1/25
16 10,000 B.C. WB $2,638,274 3/7
17 Saw V WB $2,487,056 10/24
18 National Treasure: Book of Secrets UIP $2,233,999 1/4
19 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull UIP $2,167,823 5/23
20 Hancock WB $2,096,269 7/4
Foreign films in bold
‘A.R.O.G’ breaks new box-office record
‘A.R.O.G’ breaks new box-office record
Comedian Cem Yılmaz’s hit sci-fi comedy “A.R.O.G” broke yet another record on Friday, drawing 2,050,000 filmgoers to theaters across Turkey in its first week, the Turkish movie Web site Sadibey has reported.
“A.R.O.G” now the holds the first week box-office record of all time in Turkish cinema. The Stone-Age comedy, starring, co-written and co-directed by Yılmaz, beat the previous record holder, “Kurtlar Vadisi Irak” (Valley of the Wolves: Iraq), which drew 1,927,752 moviegoers in its first week, when it opened in Turkish theaters in 2006, according to figures posted at www.sadibey.com.
“A.R.O.G” broke another record in Turkey last week when it surpassed the 1 million viewer mark in box office figures just four days after it opened on Dec. 5. The film, shown on 685 screens in 406 movieplexes across Turkey, managed to gain a spot among the top five films in box-office lists last week in Germany as well. It also did well in Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, where it opened the same date it premiered in Turkey, and was screened in four other European countries, including Britain, France and Denmark.
With a budget of over 8 million euros, “A.R.O.G” holds the title of being the most expensive film ever made in the history of Turkish cinema, its producers say. “A.R.O.G” is the follow-up to Yılmaz’s 2004 space comedy “G.O.R.A,” which followed the adventures of Turkish carpet salesman Arif (Yılmaz) in space. Yılmaz plays numerous characters in the new film, as he did in the first one. In this new adventure, Arif is beamed by his nemesis, Commander Logar (also played by Yılmaz), 1 million years back in time, to an earth dominated by Stone Age creatures. Arif quickly makes friends in the Stone Age, but his sole wish is to return to the present and back to his pregnant wife, Ceku (Özge Özberk). To do this, he needs an ultra fast-moving technological breakthrough to build a working time machine. This means bringing his barbarian contemporaries to the present -- or even to an advanced -- technological state in the shortest time possible by racing them through the ages.
Comedian Cem Yılmaz’s hit sci-fi comedy “A.R.O.G” broke yet another record on Friday, drawing 2,050,000 filmgoers to theaters across Turkey in its first week, the Turkish movie Web site Sadibey has reported.
“A.R.O.G” now the holds the first week box-office record of all time in Turkish cinema. The Stone-Age comedy, starring, co-written and co-directed by Yılmaz, beat the previous record holder, “Kurtlar Vadisi Irak” (Valley of the Wolves: Iraq), which drew 1,927,752 moviegoers in its first week, when it opened in Turkish theaters in 2006, according to figures posted at www.sadibey.com.
“A.R.O.G” broke another record in Turkey last week when it surpassed the 1 million viewer mark in box office figures just four days after it opened on Dec. 5. The film, shown on 685 screens in 406 movieplexes across Turkey, managed to gain a spot among the top five films in box-office lists last week in Germany as well. It also did well in Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, where it opened the same date it premiered in Turkey, and was screened in four other European countries, including Britain, France and Denmark.
With a budget of over 8 million euros, “A.R.O.G” holds the title of being the most expensive film ever made in the history of Turkish cinema, its producers say. “A.R.O.G” is the follow-up to Yılmaz’s 2004 space comedy “G.O.R.A,” which followed the adventures of Turkish carpet salesman Arif (Yılmaz) in space. Yılmaz plays numerous characters in the new film, as he did in the first one. In this new adventure, Arif is beamed by his nemesis, Commander Logar (also played by Yılmaz), 1 million years back in time, to an earth dominated by Stone Age creatures. Arif quickly makes friends in the Stone Age, but his sole wish is to return to the present and back to his pregnant wife, Ceku (Özge Özberk). To do this, he needs an ultra fast-moving technological breakthrough to build a working time machine. This means bringing his barbarian contemporaries to the present -- or even to an advanced -- technological state in the shortest time possible by racing them through the ages.
Turkish box office is up
Turkish box office is up
Local hits have helped attract private money
By NICK HOLDSWORTH | Variety Posted: Fri., Oct. 3, 2008
As Turkey's Golden Orange Film Festival gets ready to kick off its 45th year, local films are burning up the wickets, with domestic pics set to capture some 50% of the country's box office this year.
A wave of local hits -- dominated by comedies and action movies -- has helped attract private money and investment from TV companies in home-grown product, Turkish film industry professionals say.
Box office figures for 2008 through August show the top six positions all taken by Turkish films, with comedy "Recep Ivedik" at the top of the list, pulling in 4.3 million viewers since its release late February.
"We are witnessing an explosion in the number of films being produced in Turkey," says Ahmet Boyacioglu, chairman of the Ankara Cinema Assn. "Two years ago, a couple of dozens films were produced, last year 43 (were made) and this year already around 60. Currently there are some 30 films waiting to be released, reflecting films from across a range of genres -- comedies, arthouse, personal (auteur) films."
Boyacioglu says it is hard to identify precisely what factors have contributed to the sharp increase in interest among audiences in domestic movies, but notes that institutional and industry investors have been quick to capitalize on it.
"Television channels are increasingly interested in buying films before they are shot, and we even have an example of a single private investor putting up the entire $2 million budget for one film currently in production," Boyacioglu adds.
Market share for Turkish films went from just 13% in 2002 to 51% in 2006, he says. Although the share dipped to 38% last year, latest figures suggest that by year's end the figure will be back up around 50%, with "Recep Ivedik" accounting for approximately 12% of total market share based on an average annual audience in Turkey of 30 million-35 million.
Figures like that are knocking some of Hollywood's best efforts off the charts: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" pulled in just 323,000 viewers.
"It's a disaster for American films. Why the Turkish people have decided to watch more Turkish films over the last six years I don't know, but now anyone with any interest or opportunity in cinema wants to make a film here," Boyacioglu says.
Although many of the blockbuster local films will rarely be seen beyond Turkey's borders -- or outside its large diaspora communities in countries such as Germany -- festival fare is also enjoying a new wave.
Turkish films have been featured heavily in the competition and showcase programs of virtually all European film festivals this year, with Nuri Bilge Ceylan's taking the director prize at Cannes this year for "Three Monkeys."
Other Turkish pics on festival and award radars include "Pandora's Box" by Yesim Ustaoglu; "Milk" by Semi Kaplanoglu; "Autumn" by Ozcan Alper; "My Marlon and Brando" by Huseyin Karabey; and Seyfi Teoman's feature debut "Summer Book."
Deniz Ziya Temeltas, of the Eurasia Production Platform and Film Market -- a professional sidebar that runs during the Eurasia film festival in Antalya -- says local films look likely to remain a force in Turkey for the foreseeable future.
"With the arrival of new festivals, production platforms and markets as well as various new media, there is a question whether the U.S. will be able keep its market share," Ziya Temeltas says. "More and more local productions are airing on primetime TV. ... In Turkey, there is not a U.S. series on a major network in primetime."
Local hits have helped attract private money
By NICK HOLDSWORTH | Variety Posted: Fri., Oct. 3, 2008
As Turkey's Golden Orange Film Festival gets ready to kick off its 45th year, local films are burning up the wickets, with domestic pics set to capture some 50% of the country's box office this year.
A wave of local hits -- dominated by comedies and action movies -- has helped attract private money and investment from TV companies in home-grown product, Turkish film industry professionals say.
Box office figures for 2008 through August show the top six positions all taken by Turkish films, with comedy "Recep Ivedik" at the top of the list, pulling in 4.3 million viewers since its release late February.
"We are witnessing an explosion in the number of films being produced in Turkey," says Ahmet Boyacioglu, chairman of the Ankara Cinema Assn. "Two years ago, a couple of dozens films were produced, last year 43 (were made) and this year already around 60. Currently there are some 30 films waiting to be released, reflecting films from across a range of genres -- comedies, arthouse, personal (auteur) films."
Boyacioglu says it is hard to identify precisely what factors have contributed to the sharp increase in interest among audiences in domestic movies, but notes that institutional and industry investors have been quick to capitalize on it.
"Television channels are increasingly interested in buying films before they are shot, and we even have an example of a single private investor putting up the entire $2 million budget for one film currently in production," Boyacioglu adds.
Market share for Turkish films went from just 13% in 2002 to 51% in 2006, he says. Although the share dipped to 38% last year, latest figures suggest that by year's end the figure will be back up around 50%, with "Recep Ivedik" accounting for approximately 12% of total market share based on an average annual audience in Turkey of 30 million-35 million.
Figures like that are knocking some of Hollywood's best efforts off the charts: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" pulled in just 323,000 viewers.
"It's a disaster for American films. Why the Turkish people have decided to watch more Turkish films over the last six years I don't know, but now anyone with any interest or opportunity in cinema wants to make a film here," Boyacioglu says.
Although many of the blockbuster local films will rarely be seen beyond Turkey's borders -- or outside its large diaspora communities in countries such as Germany -- festival fare is also enjoying a new wave.
Turkish films have been featured heavily in the competition and showcase programs of virtually all European film festivals this year, with Nuri Bilge Ceylan's taking the director prize at Cannes this year for "Three Monkeys."
Other Turkish pics on festival and award radars include "Pandora's Box" by Yesim Ustaoglu; "Milk" by Semi Kaplanoglu; "Autumn" by Ozcan Alper; "My Marlon and Brando" by Huseyin Karabey; and Seyfi Teoman's feature debut "Summer Book."
Deniz Ziya Temeltas, of the Eurasia Production Platform and Film Market -- a professional sidebar that runs during the Eurasia film festival in Antalya -- says local films look likely to remain a force in Turkey for the foreseeable future.
"With the arrival of new festivals, production platforms and markets as well as various new media, there is a question whether the U.S. will be able keep its market share," Ziya Temeltas says. "More and more local productions are airing on primetime TV. ... In Turkey, there is not a U.S. series on a major network in primetime."
2008 | Turkish Films grab top 10
Total films in release from January 2008 to December 15, 2008...258 (2007: 251)
Share of Turkish films 18.2% (2007: 14.7%) with 47 films released. (2007: 37)
Top 10 Box office (all Turkish [1] films)
1.Recep İvedik
2.AROG[*]
3.Issız Adam[*]
4.Osmanlı Cumhuriyeti[*]
5. Muro[*]
6.Mustafa[*]
7.120
8.Maskeli Beşler Kıbrıs’ta
9.Çılgın Dershane Kampta
10.O. Çocukları
[*] in current release
[1] in 2007 only 5 films in top 10 were Turkish productions.
Share of Turkish films 18.2% (2007: 14.7%) with 47 films released. (2007: 37)
Top 10 Box office (all Turkish [1] films)
1.Recep İvedik
2.AROG[*]
3.Issız Adam[*]
4.Osmanlı Cumhuriyeti[*]
5. Muro[*]
6.Mustafa[*]
7.120
8.Maskeli Beşler Kıbrıs’ta
9.Çılgın Dershane Kampta
10.O. Çocukları
[*] in current release
[1] in 2007 only 5 films in top 10 were Turkish productions.
Three Monkeys| English Press
English
- Screen International, " Three Monkeys", by Jonathan Romney
- Hollywood Reporter, "Three Monkeys", by Peter Brunette
- Hollywood Elsewhere, " Three Monkeys", by Jeffrey Wells
- Variety, " Three Monkeys", by Justin Chang
- Time Out (London), " Three Monkeys", by Geoff Andrew
- Zaman, "I won the bet, Ceylan won the award ", by Olkan Özyurt, interview with actor Yavuz Bingöl
- Time, "Turkish Director Fêted in Cannes, Ignored at Home", by Pelin Turgut
- Chicago Tribune, "'3 Monkeys' at present is toast of Cannes", by Michael Phillips, interview with N.B.Ceylan
- Guardian, "How shoplifting in Brixton led to a film career", by Geoffrey Macnab, interview with N.B.Ceylan
- Cinematical, "Cannes Review: Three Monkeys", by Kim Voynar
- Looking Closer Journal, "Three Monkeys", by Kenneth R. Morefield
- The Lumiere Reader, "Gloom Merchant: Three Monkeys", by Steve Garden
- The Back Row Manifesto, "Three Monkeys", by Tom Hall
- Hindustan Times, "Of Unusual Suspects", by Rashid Irani
- NDTV Movies, "Three Monkeys", by Kuhu Tanvir
- Business Standard, "Better than a close-up", by Neha Bhatt
- Chicks on Fire, "Three Monkeys", by Aurelle
- Zaman, "The road to perdition", by Emine Yıldırım
- Dear Cinema, "Kolkata Film Festival: Day 3", by Sumit Dasgupta
- Daily News (Egypt), "Turkish director experiments with 'Three Monkeys'", by Joseph Fahim
- Dear Cinema, "Nuri Bilge Ceylan: Turkey’s new master of cinema", by Jugu Abraham
- Film Making Blog, "Unique View: Three Monkeys", by Alper Cagatay
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Trailer | Gunesi Gordum by Mahsun Kirmizigul
SYNOPSIS FROM BOYUT FILM A film dedicated to peace and children... A mountain village perched on the border between two worlds... The home, for generations, of the Altun family... But with the introduction of forced migration policies, the family finds itself wrenched from the village. This is the story of their relocation from east to west. Haydar and Isa Altun arrive with their respective families in Istanbul, where they decide to stay. But Davut Altun, his wife and children set their sights further afield and travel on to Norway... Spanning a period of 25 years, the film recounts the experiences of the three families as they struggle to find their feet in alien surroundings. It is a film that condemns all of discrimination or otherization and argues that war,fighting and contempt for anyone unlike oneself are the very problem itself... The story that unfolds in the film is a story that belongs to us all, to this country, to Turkey... Boyut Film | Tel: 0212 2704830 | Fax:0212 2703754 OFFICIAL SITE http://www.gunesigordum.com
Saturday, December 13, 2008
'Mustafa' a hit in Turkey
'Mustafa' a hit in Turkey
Doc mixes original footage and re-enactments
By ALI JAAFAR
LONDON A new film about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern-day Turkey, has become a sensation in his native country.
"Mustafa," a docu written and directed by Can Dundar, which mixes original footage with re-enactments of the leader's life, is the fastest grossing Turkish pic of the year. It has garnered almost a million admissions since its debut Oct. 29, only days before the 70th anniversary of Ataturk's death Nov. 10.
It is also by some margin the most controversial Turkish pic of the year, with Ataturk-loyalists decrying its portrayal of the venerated leader as a hard-drinking, chain-smoking womanizer.
Some critics have also blasted Dundar's attempts to humanize Ataturk -- whose surname means "father of the Turks" -- by referring to him by his first name and for using a Greek actor to portray Ataturk as a child.
Pic has even outgunned James Bond.
"Mustafa" is comfortably outgrossing "Quantum of Solace," bringing in 43,000 admissions on Nov. 11 compared with the Bond sequel's 20,000 admissions.
Turkey is a country virtually defined by its contradictions, with one foot in Asia and the other in Europe. With a population split between those who favor the fervently secularist ideals that Ataturk enshrined when he founded the modern state of Turkey in 1923 following the demise of the Ottoman Empire and those who follow the more Islamic views espoused by the current ruling AK party, the figure of Ataturk has often been seen as a rare unifier in the country. All of which has made Dundar's warts-and-all approach dominate media coverage in recent weeks.
"There has been so much controversy," says producer Nurhan Ozer. "There's no film in Turkey that has been criticized so much. Every day we're receiving between 50-100 news articles about the film. And controversial views are more frequent than the positive ones."
That hasn't stopped Turks from showing up in droves to see the pic, which is being distribbed by Warner Bros. locally.
The hot-potato subject matter of the pic also scared off potential investors. Turkcell, one of Turkey's largest mobile phone operators, was due to be a sponsor until it backed out of the pic following the political furor. Ultimately, the $1.2 million project was fully funded by Turkish satcaster NTV and conglom Sabanci Holding.
Pic is on course to bring in nearly 1.5 million admissions by the end of its first month of release, but remains some way behind the all-time Turkish box office champ "Recep Ivedik," from helmer Togan Gökbakar.. That pic, a laffer based on a popular Turkish character, brought in better than 4 million admissions when released earlier this year.
Doc mixes original footage and re-enactments
By ALI JAAFAR
LONDON A new film about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern-day Turkey, has become a sensation in his native country.
"Mustafa," a docu written and directed by Can Dundar, which mixes original footage with re-enactments of the leader's life, is the fastest grossing Turkish pic of the year. It has garnered almost a million admissions since its debut Oct. 29, only days before the 70th anniversary of Ataturk's death Nov. 10.
It is also by some margin the most controversial Turkish pic of the year, with Ataturk-loyalists decrying its portrayal of the venerated leader as a hard-drinking, chain-smoking womanizer.
Some critics have also blasted Dundar's attempts to humanize Ataturk -- whose surname means "father of the Turks" -- by referring to him by his first name and for using a Greek actor to portray Ataturk as a child.
Pic has even outgunned James Bond.
"Mustafa" is comfortably outgrossing "Quantum of Solace," bringing in 43,000 admissions on Nov. 11 compared with the Bond sequel's 20,000 admissions.
Turkey is a country virtually defined by its contradictions, with one foot in Asia and the other in Europe. With a population split between those who favor the fervently secularist ideals that Ataturk enshrined when he founded the modern state of Turkey in 1923 following the demise of the Ottoman Empire and those who follow the more Islamic views espoused by the current ruling AK party, the figure of Ataturk has often been seen as a rare unifier in the country. All of which has made Dundar's warts-and-all approach dominate media coverage in recent weeks.
"There has been so much controversy," says producer Nurhan Ozer. "There's no film in Turkey that has been criticized so much. Every day we're receiving between 50-100 news articles about the film. And controversial views are more frequent than the positive ones."
That hasn't stopped Turks from showing up in droves to see the pic, which is being distribbed by Warner Bros. locally.
The hot-potato subject matter of the pic also scared off potential investors. Turkcell, one of Turkey's largest mobile phone operators, was due to be a sponsor until it backed out of the pic following the political furor. Ultimately, the $1.2 million project was fully funded by Turkish satcaster NTV and conglom Sabanci Holding.
Pic is on course to bring in nearly 1.5 million admissions by the end of its first month of release, but remains some way behind the all-time Turkish box office champ "Recep Ivedik," from helmer Togan Gökbakar.. That pic, a laffer based on a popular Turkish character, brought in better than 4 million admissions when released earlier this year.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
MOMA Filmmaker in Focus: Ferzan Ozpetek
Filmmaker in Focus: Ferzan Ozpetek
December 4–14, 2008
One of the most successful and award-winning contemporary Italian filmmakers, Ferzan Ozpetek (b. 1959, Istanbul) creates films that display a unique thematic focus while remaining ambitious in scope and richly rewarding in their technical achievement. Effortlessly elegant, his aesthetic rarely calls attention to itself; his films masterfully illuminate various strains of society and strands of storytelling, and his actors shine in beautifully written, multifaceted parts that embrace an unforced multiculturalism. Ozpetek's films are often rooted in the tradition of the sophisticated melodramas of the 1950s, pivoting around seemingly ordinary and content people whose lives become unmoored—often by a sudden death—leading to the discovery of previously unacknowledged passions and possibilities.
The filmmaker's signature tracking camera stunningly unites disparate time periods (as in Facing Windows and Harem) and distant locales (Italy and Turkey), and creates a visual connection between Ozpetek's central characters and the extended families they discover, whether in close friendships (Saturn in Opposition), in communal living (His Secret Life), or in caring for those in need (Sacred Heart, Facing Windows). His is a humanistic cinema in which the kindness of strangers is the most readily available because—as the Sister Sledge song puts it—"We are family."
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, the Department of Film, and Camilla Cormanni and Paola Ruggiero, Cinecittà Holding, Rome. The exhibition features new prints courtesy of Cinecittà Holding. Grateful thanks to the producers and distributors: Domenico Procacci of Fandango, RAI Cinema, Medusa Film, Mikado Film, Gianluca Curti of Minerva Pictures, Tilde Corsi and Gianni Romoli of R&C Production, Sony Pictures Classics, and Strand Releasing. The series is made possible thanks to the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture, Cinema Department, in collaboration with The Italian Cultural Institute, New York, the Moon and Stars Project, The American Turkish Society, and Peuterey. Additional thanks to the Italian Consulate, New York, Moleskine, Laura Delli Colli, Antonio Monda, Mondadori, Moira Mazzantini, Lula Sarchioni, Emanuela Di Suni, Gioia Donati, and Gianni Giansanti for their kind collaboration.
Le fate ignoranti (His Secret Life). 2001. Italy. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli
His Secret Life. 2001. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
Le fate ignoranti (His Secret Life). 2001. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Margherita Buy, Stefano Accorsi, Serra Yilmaz. When Antonia's husband is suddenly killed in a car accident, she discovers that he led a second life. Obsessed with her husband's secrets, she finds his other lover and their circle of friends, and becomes intrigued with their rooftop "commune." The messy, quarrelsome, compassionate, colorful, and fun characters from her husband's parallel life challenge her well-ordered existence and fixed worldview. In Italian; English subtitles. 105 min.
Thursday, December 4, 2008, 7:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Ozpetek and Stefano Accorsi)
Friday, December 12, 2008, 9:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Un giorno perfetto (A Perfect Day). 2008. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. With Isabella Ferrari, Valerio Mastandrea, Stefania Sandrelli. Ozpetek's latest film is based—uncharacteristically for the director—on a popular novel. In this multifaceted narrative encompassing domestic violence, political corruption, youthful rebellion, and class differences in a modern city, a day of events and encounters leads to an irrevocably pitch-dark end (the film's title is highly ironic). The ferocious—mostly wordless—climactic scenes are filmed in extreme close-up, brilliantly capturing the actors' exceptional performances. In Italian; English subtitles. 101 min.
Friday, December 5, 2008, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (U.S. premiere. Introduced by Ozpetek, actress Isabella Ferrari, and Laura Delli Colli, author of Ferzan Ozpetek: Eyes Wide Open. Followed by a Q&A with Ozpetek and Ferrari)
Saturday, December 13, 2008, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (U.S. premiere)
La finestra di fronte (Facing Windows). 2003. Italy. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli
Facing Windows. 2003. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
La finestra di fronte (Facing Windows). 2003. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Massimo Girotti, Raoul Bova. This beautifully constructed tale links a pair of Roman love stories: one set in the 1940s, the other among the newly constructed buildings on the outskirts of modern-day Rome. Giovanna and her husband take in an old man suffering from temporary amnesia who is obsessed with memories from the autumn of 1943. The man's story of forbidden love parallels Giovanna's unhappiness in her marriage and her obsession with the handsome stranger that she spies on from across the street. In Italian; English subtitles. 106 min.
Friday, December 5, 2008, 8:15 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Ozpetek and Laura Delli Colli, author of Ferzan Ozpetek: Eyes Wide Open. Followed by a Q&A with Ozpetek)
Sunday, December 14, 2008, 1:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Il bagno turco/Hamam (Steam: The Turkish Bath). 1997. Italy/ Turkey/Spain. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek
Steam: The Turkish Bath. 1997. Italy/Turkey/Spain. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
Il bagno turco/Hamam (Steam: The Turkish Bath). 1997. Italy/Turkey/Spain. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek. With Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d'Aloja, Carlo Cecchi. When Francesco's aunt dies in Istanbul, he leaves his wife in charge of their small design company in Rome and travels to Turkey to sell his inheritance—a traditional hamam (Turkish bath). Smitten with the hamam and the family that runs it, Francesco soon decides to remain in Turkey. When his wife arrives to deliver important news, she discovers a different Francesco. Handled with delicate care and great insight into the slow burn of buried passions, Ozpetek's first feature is a compassionate visual exploration of cultural and sexual barriers. In Italian, Turkish; English subtitles. 94 min.
Saturday, December 6, 2008, 3:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Sunday, December 14, 2008, 3:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Cuore Sacro (Sacred Heart). 2005. Italy. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli
Sacred Heart. 2005. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
Cuore Sacro (Sacred Heart). 2005. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Barbora Bobulova, Andrea Di Stefano, Lisa Gastoni. Irene, a successful property developer with few personal connections, is thrown into turmoil when she begins restorations on her inheritance, the former residence of the mother she barely knew. As visits to her mother's old room and encounters with a persistent street kid start to get under her skin, her well-ordered world begins to show cracks. Bobulova's excellent performance as the steel-hearted heiress who gives fate a chance brings a complex psychological portrait to vivid life. In Italian; English subtitles. 116 min.
Saturday, December 6, 2008, 5:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Friday, December 12, 2008, 4:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Harem suaré (Harem). 1999. Italy/France/Turkey. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Marie Gillain, Alex Descas, Valeria Golino. Safiye, the favorite concubine of the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, falls in love with a black eunuch and is left behind to fight for the rights of the harem when the deposed sultan escapes to Europe. The complex narrative structure of this sumptuous story within a story mirrors traditional Oriental oral storytelling, and the opulent sets and costumes are shot with exceptional style and beauty. In Turkish, Italian; English subtitles. 105 min.
Sunday, December 7, 2008, 3:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Thursday, December 11, 2008, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Saturno Contro (Saturn in Opposition). 2007. Italy. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli
Saturn in Opposition. 2007. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
Saturno Contro (Saturn in Opposition). 2007. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Pierfrancesco Favino, Margherita Buy, Stefano Accorsi. Characteristic of Ozpetek's sophisticated approach to modern society and the complex ties that bind, Saturn in Opposition portrays a large, diverse circle of intimate friends centering around a gay couple, Davide and Lorenzo. When a tragedy brings them all together, the friends struggle to find solidarity beyond their selfish, everyday preoccupations. The warmth and depth of their multiple emotional bonds is confidently orchestrated and expressively choreographed by Ozpetek and his ace ensemble cast. In Italian; English subtitles. 113 min.
Sunday, December 7, 2008, 5:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 8:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
December 4–14, 2008
One of the most successful and award-winning contemporary Italian filmmakers, Ferzan Ozpetek (b. 1959, Istanbul) creates films that display a unique thematic focus while remaining ambitious in scope and richly rewarding in their technical achievement. Effortlessly elegant, his aesthetic rarely calls attention to itself; his films masterfully illuminate various strains of society and strands of storytelling, and his actors shine in beautifully written, multifaceted parts that embrace an unforced multiculturalism. Ozpetek's films are often rooted in the tradition of the sophisticated melodramas of the 1950s, pivoting around seemingly ordinary and content people whose lives become unmoored—often by a sudden death—leading to the discovery of previously unacknowledged passions and possibilities.
The filmmaker's signature tracking camera stunningly unites disparate time periods (as in Facing Windows and Harem) and distant locales (Italy and Turkey), and creates a visual connection between Ozpetek's central characters and the extended families they discover, whether in close friendships (Saturn in Opposition), in communal living (His Secret Life), or in caring for those in need (Sacred Heart, Facing Windows). His is a humanistic cinema in which the kindness of strangers is the most readily available because—as the Sister Sledge song puts it—"We are family."
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, the Department of Film, and Camilla Cormanni and Paola Ruggiero, Cinecittà Holding, Rome. The exhibition features new prints courtesy of Cinecittà Holding. Grateful thanks to the producers and distributors: Domenico Procacci of Fandango, RAI Cinema, Medusa Film, Mikado Film, Gianluca Curti of Minerva Pictures, Tilde Corsi and Gianni Romoli of R&C Production, Sony Pictures Classics, and Strand Releasing. The series is made possible thanks to the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture, Cinema Department, in collaboration with The Italian Cultural Institute, New York, the Moon and Stars Project, The American Turkish Society, and Peuterey. Additional thanks to the Italian Consulate, New York, Moleskine, Laura Delli Colli, Antonio Monda, Mondadori, Moira Mazzantini, Lula Sarchioni, Emanuela Di Suni, Gioia Donati, and Gianni Giansanti for their kind collaboration.
Le fate ignoranti (His Secret Life). 2001. Italy. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli
His Secret Life. 2001. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
Le fate ignoranti (His Secret Life). 2001. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Margherita Buy, Stefano Accorsi, Serra Yilmaz. When Antonia's husband is suddenly killed in a car accident, she discovers that he led a second life. Obsessed with her husband's secrets, she finds his other lover and their circle of friends, and becomes intrigued with their rooftop "commune." The messy, quarrelsome, compassionate, colorful, and fun characters from her husband's parallel life challenge her well-ordered existence and fixed worldview. In Italian; English subtitles. 105 min.
Thursday, December 4, 2008, 7:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Ozpetek and Stefano Accorsi)
Friday, December 12, 2008, 9:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Un giorno perfetto (A Perfect Day). 2008. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. With Isabella Ferrari, Valerio Mastandrea, Stefania Sandrelli. Ozpetek's latest film is based—uncharacteristically for the director—on a popular novel. In this multifaceted narrative encompassing domestic violence, political corruption, youthful rebellion, and class differences in a modern city, a day of events and encounters leads to an irrevocably pitch-dark end (the film's title is highly ironic). The ferocious—mostly wordless—climactic scenes are filmed in extreme close-up, brilliantly capturing the actors' exceptional performances. In Italian; English subtitles. 101 min.
Friday, December 5, 2008, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (U.S. premiere. Introduced by Ozpetek, actress Isabella Ferrari, and Laura Delli Colli, author of Ferzan Ozpetek: Eyes Wide Open. Followed by a Q&A with Ozpetek and Ferrari)
Saturday, December 13, 2008, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (U.S. premiere)
La finestra di fronte (Facing Windows). 2003. Italy. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli
Facing Windows. 2003. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
La finestra di fronte (Facing Windows). 2003. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Massimo Girotti, Raoul Bova. This beautifully constructed tale links a pair of Roman love stories: one set in the 1940s, the other among the newly constructed buildings on the outskirts of modern-day Rome. Giovanna and her husband take in an old man suffering from temporary amnesia who is obsessed with memories from the autumn of 1943. The man's story of forbidden love parallels Giovanna's unhappiness in her marriage and her obsession with the handsome stranger that she spies on from across the street. In Italian; English subtitles. 106 min.
Friday, December 5, 2008, 8:15 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Ozpetek and Laura Delli Colli, author of Ferzan Ozpetek: Eyes Wide Open. Followed by a Q&A with Ozpetek)
Sunday, December 14, 2008, 1:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Il bagno turco/Hamam (Steam: The Turkish Bath). 1997. Italy/ Turkey/Spain. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek
Steam: The Turkish Bath. 1997. Italy/Turkey/Spain. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
Il bagno turco/Hamam (Steam: The Turkish Bath). 1997. Italy/Turkey/Spain. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek. With Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d'Aloja, Carlo Cecchi. When Francesco's aunt dies in Istanbul, he leaves his wife in charge of their small design company in Rome and travels to Turkey to sell his inheritance—a traditional hamam (Turkish bath). Smitten with the hamam and the family that runs it, Francesco soon decides to remain in Turkey. When his wife arrives to deliver important news, she discovers a different Francesco. Handled with delicate care and great insight into the slow burn of buried passions, Ozpetek's first feature is a compassionate visual exploration of cultural and sexual barriers. In Italian, Turkish; English subtitles. 94 min.
Saturday, December 6, 2008, 3:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Sunday, December 14, 2008, 3:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Cuore Sacro (Sacred Heart). 2005. Italy. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli
Sacred Heart. 2005. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
Cuore Sacro (Sacred Heart). 2005. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Barbora Bobulova, Andrea Di Stefano, Lisa Gastoni. Irene, a successful property developer with few personal connections, is thrown into turmoil when she begins restorations on her inheritance, the former residence of the mother she barely knew. As visits to her mother's old room and encounters with a persistent street kid start to get under her skin, her well-ordered world begins to show cracks. Bobulova's excellent performance as the steel-hearted heiress who gives fate a chance brings a complex psychological portrait to vivid life. In Italian; English subtitles. 116 min.
Saturday, December 6, 2008, 5:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Friday, December 12, 2008, 4:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Harem suaré (Harem). 1999. Italy/France/Turkey. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Marie Gillain, Alex Descas, Valeria Golino. Safiye, the favorite concubine of the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, falls in love with a black eunuch and is left behind to fight for the rights of the harem when the deposed sultan escapes to Europe. The complex narrative structure of this sumptuous story within a story mirrors traditional Oriental oral storytelling, and the opulent sets and costumes are shot with exceptional style and beauty. In Turkish, Italian; English subtitles. 105 min.
Sunday, December 7, 2008, 3:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Thursday, December 11, 2008, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Saturno Contro (Saturn in Opposition). 2007. Italy. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli
Saturn in Opposition. 2007. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek
Saturno Contro (Saturn in Opposition). 2007. Italy. Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli. With Pierfrancesco Favino, Margherita Buy, Stefano Accorsi. Characteristic of Ozpetek's sophisticated approach to modern society and the complex ties that bind, Saturn in Opposition portrays a large, diverse circle of intimate friends centering around a gay couple, Davide and Lorenzo. When a tragedy brings them all together, the friends struggle to find solidarity beyond their selfish, everyday preoccupations. The warmth and depth of their multiple emotional bonds is confidently orchestrated and expressively choreographed by Ozpetek and his ace ensemble cast. In Italian; English subtitles. 113 min.
Sunday, December 7, 2008, 5:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 8:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Review | Times And Winds
Times And Winds (Bes Vakit)
Cert: 15
Evening Standard review by Derek Malcolm
Dir: Reha Erdem. Cast: Ozkan Ozen, Ali Bey Kayali, Elit Iscan, Selma Ergec, Tarik Sonmez
Description: Vivid portrait of the hopes and dreams of three youngsters who live in a remote Turkish hillside community on the country's northwest coast. Omer, best pal Yakup and Yildiz hang out together after school, chewing over their humdrum routines and the people shaping their futures, including their beautiful teacher and the local shepherd boy Davut with a secret crush. An ill wind blows across the hillside, compelling the youngters to make difficult decisions.
Country: TURK. 2006. 111mins
Village people in Times and Winds
By Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard 28.08.08
Though painfully slow to ignite and poetically portentous on occasions, Reha Erdem’s film about three children growing up in a remote Anatolian village, isolated by high mountains, has an impressive edge to it. It is shot with great care for the harsh beauty of the terrain, and seeks to show us both the travails of daily existence and the pain of adolescence.
Omer, the son of the sick local imam, wishes for the death of a father who prefers his daughter to himself. He’s quite willing to force the issue by secretly throwing away his medicine. Yacob has a crush on his young teacher and begins to feel the same way as Omer when he catches his father spying on her. Yildiz, being a girl, has to see to household chores as well as studying.
The village scene is painted with a kind of resignation that seems to believe that the rhythms of the seasons and the five daily calls to prayer have a formative impact on its young characters, even at play on the mountains. Erdem’s film is nothing if not ruminative and always beautiful to look at.
Cert: 15
Evening Standard review by Derek Malcolm
Dir: Reha Erdem. Cast: Ozkan Ozen, Ali Bey Kayali, Elit Iscan, Selma Ergec, Tarik Sonmez
Description: Vivid portrait of the hopes and dreams of three youngsters who live in a remote Turkish hillside community on the country's northwest coast. Omer, best pal Yakup and Yildiz hang out together after school, chewing over their humdrum routines and the people shaping their futures, including their beautiful teacher and the local shepherd boy Davut with a secret crush. An ill wind blows across the hillside, compelling the youngters to make difficult decisions.
Country: TURK. 2006. 111mins
Village people in Times and Winds
By Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard 28.08.08
Though painfully slow to ignite and poetically portentous on occasions, Reha Erdem’s film about three children growing up in a remote Anatolian village, isolated by high mountains, has an impressive edge to it. It is shot with great care for the harsh beauty of the terrain, and seeks to show us both the travails of daily existence and the pain of adolescence.
Omer, the son of the sick local imam, wishes for the death of a father who prefers his daughter to himself. He’s quite willing to force the issue by secretly throwing away his medicine. Yacob has a crush on his young teacher and begins to feel the same way as Omer when he catches his father spying on her. Yildiz, being a girl, has to see to household chores as well as studying.
The village scene is painted with a kind of resignation that seems to believe that the rhythms of the seasons and the five daily calls to prayer have a formative impact on its young characters, even at play on the mountains. Erdem’s film is nothing if not ruminative and always beautiful to look at.
Times and Winds | DVD Review
Times and Winds
Kino // Unrated // July 15, 2008
List Price: $29.95
Review by Jamie S. Rich | posted July 5, 2008 |
THE MOVIE:
Slowly paced films have a strange, ironic quality in that despite the glacial pace at which their narratives move, they are often the films that pass the fastest when you are watching them. It's as if the demand they place on you as a viewer is so great, you become even more immersed in the story than you do when the picture is moving at a constant sprint. So focused are you on digesting every small morsel it has to offer, the closing credits come on before you even have a chance to check your watch.
The Turkish movie Times and Winds has this kind of time-warp sensation. Set in a predominantly Muslim mountain village, writer/director Reha Erdem's 2007 feature borrows the ambling pace of rural life at high altitudes. Following the adolescent struggles of three teenagers, Erdem captures the predicament of youth perfectly, creating the simultaneous feeling that life will never move forward and that everything is slipping away faster than you can control.
All three of the children in Times and Winds are at the juncture of growing up where they are becoming aware of the adult world and its pleasures, and that there might be more to the world beyond the confines of their hometown. They want to experience these new discoveries and to express themselves for who they are, but their parents are too busy placing restrictions on them. Cigarettes are too mature for them, for instance, but they are expected to help with work, look after younger siblings, and appear for their daily prayers. They can't be childish, but they won't be given the rewards of adulthood, either.
Of the three teenagers, two are boys and one is a girl. Of the boys, Omer (Özkan Özen) is ostensibly the leader. His father is the head of the village church, and both of Omer's parents dote on his younger brother as a way of calling attention to their eldest son's faults. Omer dreams of the day he will be free of his father, and when the old man becomes sick, he tries whatever he can--opening his bedroom window at night, emptying his medicine--to help the illness win. When that's not fast enough, Omer dreams of other forms of patricide, weighing the consequence of the sin against the benefits of the result.
In contrast, Omer's slow-witted friend Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali), like most boys his age, is obsessed with sex. He dreams of his teacher (Selma Ergeç), whom he clearly has a crush on, but his inability to talk about it would lead us to believe that he doesn't really know what sex is. Though all of the children see the animals in their village go at it from time to time, they giggle at what they don't understand. Yakup is so embarrassed, in fact, he chases off Yildiz (Elit Iscan) when he realizes that she is also there when he and Omer are watching donkeys have sex. Not that Yildiz has much interest in growing into a woman. She has been placed in the role of caretaker too early, stuck babysitting when she'd rather be out enjoying the world. She is also leery of what goes on behind her parents' closed bedroom door.
The animals copulating are shown to us in contrast to the images of death that Erdem peppers throughout Times and Winds. The teens live in a natural environment where the cycle of life is always on display. On one end, Omer's father and Yildiz's grandmother are both showing their mortality; on the other, Yakup's mother is about to have another child. Erdem creates a world of dualities. Omer in contrast to his younger brother is mirrored in Yakup's father being seen as less capable next to his brother. By extension, this shows the conflict between the generations is ongoing. Yakup's grandfather orders his sons to build a stone wall outside the garden they inherited from him; ever since that gift, however, he has made sure the men are beholden to him, and as soon as the wall is built, he dismantles it, declaring it's not good enough. Yakup is eventually torn between the shame for his father's humiliation in such situations and the betrayal of realizing he really is a nincompoop, catching the older man peeping through the teacher's window.
Unlike the sturm und drang of western films about adolescent angst, Erdem infuses Time and Winds with a quieter melancholy. These kids are restless and they want to lash out, but they aren't particularly destructive; life hasn't yet taught them to be. Though they see some violence among the adults, they don't mimic it. Even Omer's murderous daydreaming is free of any actual blood, stopping short at the moment of action. Instead, the yearning fantasies of the trio show how far beyond childhood they have been pushed. Erdem's images of death are merely the teens lying in the dirt and the brush, as if asleep, covered by rocks and leaves like they have been there for some time, the natural way of things overtaking their prone bodies. It's an approach that goes counter to the normal suicide fantasies of troubled adolescence. They are more like older folk, tired and wanting to lay down. Thus, Erdem chooses to show us time in reverse. Rather than have Times and Winds be one long night of the soul, waiting for dawn to break and all that comes with it, the director moves us back through the day, taking the long way around as it were, as if his children have to regress to reclaim their childhood. Thus, the on-screen chapter breaks go from night, to early afternoon, noon, and then morning.
One other element of note in Times and Winds is the marvelous musical score by composer Arvo Pärt, whose moving music has been used in movies like The Thin Red Line and The Good Shepherd even when he's not the one responsible for the score. For Time and Winds, he creates a vivid soundscape that adds a grandiosity to the subdued images. In his emotionally weighty orchestration, he is able to express the seething power of the turmoil that the teenagers have no outlet for, working hand-in-hand with Erdem's measured visual style to draw the sadness and the longing from the situation. While most of the time the best scores work subliminally without the audience really being aware of the magic the musicians are creating, this is one of those rare cases where there is nothing wrong with taking a moment to just enjoy the sounds for what they have to offer.
Kino // Unrated // July 15, 2008
List Price: $29.95
Review by Jamie S. Rich | posted July 5, 2008 |
THE MOVIE:
Slowly paced films have a strange, ironic quality in that despite the glacial pace at which their narratives move, they are often the films that pass the fastest when you are watching them. It's as if the demand they place on you as a viewer is so great, you become even more immersed in the story than you do when the picture is moving at a constant sprint. So focused are you on digesting every small morsel it has to offer, the closing credits come on before you even have a chance to check your watch.
The Turkish movie Times and Winds has this kind of time-warp sensation. Set in a predominantly Muslim mountain village, writer/director Reha Erdem's 2007 feature borrows the ambling pace of rural life at high altitudes. Following the adolescent struggles of three teenagers, Erdem captures the predicament of youth perfectly, creating the simultaneous feeling that life will never move forward and that everything is slipping away faster than you can control.
All three of the children in Times and Winds are at the juncture of growing up where they are becoming aware of the adult world and its pleasures, and that there might be more to the world beyond the confines of their hometown. They want to experience these new discoveries and to express themselves for who they are, but their parents are too busy placing restrictions on them. Cigarettes are too mature for them, for instance, but they are expected to help with work, look after younger siblings, and appear for their daily prayers. They can't be childish, but they won't be given the rewards of adulthood, either.
Of the three teenagers, two are boys and one is a girl. Of the boys, Omer (Özkan Özen) is ostensibly the leader. His father is the head of the village church, and both of Omer's parents dote on his younger brother as a way of calling attention to their eldest son's faults. Omer dreams of the day he will be free of his father, and when the old man becomes sick, he tries whatever he can--opening his bedroom window at night, emptying his medicine--to help the illness win. When that's not fast enough, Omer dreams of other forms of patricide, weighing the consequence of the sin against the benefits of the result.
In contrast, Omer's slow-witted friend Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali), like most boys his age, is obsessed with sex. He dreams of his teacher (Selma Ergeç), whom he clearly has a crush on, but his inability to talk about it would lead us to believe that he doesn't really know what sex is. Though all of the children see the animals in their village go at it from time to time, they giggle at what they don't understand. Yakup is so embarrassed, in fact, he chases off Yildiz (Elit Iscan) when he realizes that she is also there when he and Omer are watching donkeys have sex. Not that Yildiz has much interest in growing into a woman. She has been placed in the role of caretaker too early, stuck babysitting when she'd rather be out enjoying the world. She is also leery of what goes on behind her parents' closed bedroom door.
The animals copulating are shown to us in contrast to the images of death that Erdem peppers throughout Times and Winds. The teens live in a natural environment where the cycle of life is always on display. On one end, Omer's father and Yildiz's grandmother are both showing their mortality; on the other, Yakup's mother is about to have another child. Erdem creates a world of dualities. Omer in contrast to his younger brother is mirrored in Yakup's father being seen as less capable next to his brother. By extension, this shows the conflict between the generations is ongoing. Yakup's grandfather orders his sons to build a stone wall outside the garden they inherited from him; ever since that gift, however, he has made sure the men are beholden to him, and as soon as the wall is built, he dismantles it, declaring it's not good enough. Yakup is eventually torn between the shame for his father's humiliation in such situations and the betrayal of realizing he really is a nincompoop, catching the older man peeping through the teacher's window.
Unlike the sturm und drang of western films about adolescent angst, Erdem infuses Time and Winds with a quieter melancholy. These kids are restless and they want to lash out, but they aren't particularly destructive; life hasn't yet taught them to be. Though they see some violence among the adults, they don't mimic it. Even Omer's murderous daydreaming is free of any actual blood, stopping short at the moment of action. Instead, the yearning fantasies of the trio show how far beyond childhood they have been pushed. Erdem's images of death are merely the teens lying in the dirt and the brush, as if asleep, covered by rocks and leaves like they have been there for some time, the natural way of things overtaking their prone bodies. It's an approach that goes counter to the normal suicide fantasies of troubled adolescence. They are more like older folk, tired and wanting to lay down. Thus, Erdem chooses to show us time in reverse. Rather than have Times and Winds be one long night of the soul, waiting for dawn to break and all that comes with it, the director moves us back through the day, taking the long way around as it were, as if his children have to regress to reclaim their childhood. Thus, the on-screen chapter breaks go from night, to early afternoon, noon, and then morning.
One other element of note in Times and Winds is the marvelous musical score by composer Arvo Pärt, whose moving music has been used in movies like The Thin Red Line and The Good Shepherd even when he's not the one responsible for the score. For Time and Winds, he creates a vivid soundscape that adds a grandiosity to the subdued images. In his emotionally weighty orchestration, he is able to express the seething power of the turmoil that the teenagers have no outlet for, working hand-in-hand with Erdem's measured visual style to draw the sadness and the longing from the situation. While most of the time the best scores work subliminally without the audience really being aware of the magic the musicians are creating, this is one of those rare cases where there is nothing wrong with taking a moment to just enjoy the sounds for what they have to offer.
Review | A Youthful Awakening to Mother Nature’s Laws in a Turkish Village
Movie Review
Times and Winds (2006)
Kino International
Ozkan Ozen, left, and Ali Bey Kayali in “Times and Winds.”January 11, 2008
A Youthful Awakening to Mother Nature’s Laws in a Turkish Village
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: January 11, 2008
Livestock far outnumber humans in “Times and Winds,” Reha Erdem’s transporting vision of life in a mountain village in northwest Turkey as seen through the eyes of three children on the verge of adolescence. Make no mistake: The movie, for all its majestic shots of the rocky landscape and of the moon skittering behind clouds, is not a lump-in-your-throat portrait of the noble poor living in harmony with the elements.
Even in this remote hamlet untouched by television, human nature is what it is. The two boys, the best friends Omer (Ozkan Ozen) and Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali), and one girl, Yildiz (Elit Iscan), whose day-to-day lives the movie observes with an affectionate detachment, giggle and point at the spectacle of animals mating.
Within their families there is an ugly heritage of generational strife. Because Omer’s strict, ailing father (Bulent Emin Yarar), the village imam, prefers Omer’s younger brother, Omer devoutly wishes his father dead.
While his parents are asleep, he steals into their room and opens a window over their bed, hoping the night air will aggravate his father’s severe respiratory problems. He surreptitiously pulls apart and empties the capsules prescribed for his father’s condition. He even traps a poisonous scorpion he intends to unleash on his father, but it dies.
There is a scene of a frustrated farmer beating a horse and another of an old man attacking his son for stealing nuts from a tree. Yildiz is treated like a servant by her mother. Yakup has a secret infatuation with the village teacher (Selma Ergec), a beautiful young woman whom the villagers reward with regular deliveries of milk and bread. The boy is crushed when he comes upon his father peeping at her through a window of her house. The scene of the son spying on the father spying on the woman rubs in the fact that this is no Garden of Eden.
The teacher’s lessons about the Earth’s rotation, light, heat and the water cycle reflect the film’s focus on the intersection of daily life with the laws of nature. Its absence of high drama allows such primary forces to become its main subject. The film is organized around the five daily calls to Islamic prayer, chronologically reversed so that night is followed by evening, then afternoon, noon and dawn. As the sun rises at the end of the movie, this rearrangement of time simultaneously evokes the village’s unchanging way of life and the blind expectations of preadolescent children facing adulthood.
As in Iranian films that focus on childhood, the soundtrack of “Times and Winds” is filled with the stirrings of nature — the wind rushing through trees, animal sounds and bird song from near and far. Augmenting this pastoral symphony are excerpts from several pieces by Arvo Pärt (including the “Te Deum”) that add texture and gravity to the film. The music — lush but emotionally neutral and at times static — conjures eternal things.
For all its beauty, though, you couldn’t describe “Times and Winds” as uplifting, and its attitude toward childhood is not sentimental in the manner of similarly minimalist Iranian movies. Its vision of people in thrall to religious ritual and living at the mercy of nature may be poetic, but it is no idyll. The serpent has done its dirty work.
TIMES AND WINDS
Opens in Manhattan on Friday.
Written (in Turkish, with English subtitles), directed and edited by Reha Erdem; director of photography, Florent Herry; art director, Omer Atay; produced by Mr. Atay; released by Kino International. At the Anthology Film Archives, 32-34 Second Avenue, at Second Street, East Village. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes. This film is not rated.
WITH: Ozkan Ozen (Omer), Ali Bey Kayali (Yakup), Elit Iscan (Yildiz), Bulent Emin Yarar (Imam), Taner Birsel (Zekeriya), Yigit Ozsener (Yusuf) and Selma Ergec (Teacher).
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