Sunday, February 21, 2010
Two Reviews | Bal
Screen International (Lee Marshall) review
critic.de (Thorsten Funke) kritik
Honey (Bal)16 February, 2010 By Lee Marshall
Dir/prod: Semih Kaplanoglu. Turkey-Germany. 2010. 103mins.
The third part of Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu’s reverse-order trilogy, Honey depicts his partly autobiographical hero Yusuf as a withdrawn, stuttering child growing up in a remote part of rural Turkey.
Like the previous two installments, Egg and Milk, Honey is very beautiful and very studied, with a sometimes oppressive sense of directorial control. At the same time, however, film’s protagonist – who looks to be aged six or seven – is the most affecting of the three Yusufs we’ve seen so far and his story is the least subject to the symbolic baggage that weighed down parts one and two. The result is a measured, slow-moving film that invites its audience in with one arm and keeps it at a safe distance with the other.
We see a lot of the young protagonist, Yusuf, and we want to know more about his point of view, but the director seems to be standing in front of the screen.
Egg and Milk were festival darlings, but achieved scant theatrical distribution. Honey might have more of a chance on the far reaches of the art house circuit, helped by a strong performance from child actor Altas. Now that the trilogy is complete, there is scope for DVD box sets and back-to-back screenings, though perhaps not at the local multiplex.
Honey’s opening shot is almost a parody of arthouse cinema as a long still frame of trees in a forest eventually reveals a man in the far distance who leads his mule towards the camera until they are framed in a mid-shot. At the same time, the pace and especially the heightened soundscape of forest sounds, birdsong and creaking branches, does start to engage the viewer in the film’s version of a timeless elsewhere.
The man is Yakup (Besikcioglu), Yusuf’s father, and he is a gatherer of wild honey, a risky trade which involves climbing up ropes into the tops of trees where the hives are.
It takes us a while to piece together Yusuf’s world: first, the audience discovers with a little surprise that the action is set in October 2009; that Yusuf can read and speak just fine when he’s addressing his father, but is tongue-tied to the point of stuttering paralysis in social situations, such as when asked to read aloud at school.
After 20 minutes, Yusuf’s mother (Ozen) appears, but it’s not until close to the end that a placing shot allows us to see that the wooden house where Yusuf lives is halfway up a mountain, overlooking the village where he goes to school.
Incident is kept to a minimum: Yusuf accompanies his father on honey gathering expeditions; half in hope, half in despair, he eyes the jar at school where his teacher keeps the ribbons that are awarded to prize pupils; he gets his deskmate into trouble, feels bad about it; goes with his grandmother to a Mi’Raj Holy Night reading from the Koran; and tries to catch the moon reflected in a bucketful of water.
Dialogue is kept to minimum, and there is no music. The photography is controlled and self-consciously aesthetic. But after a while we yearn for a little more spontaneity, especially as the story is partly about a child’s discovery of poetry and the poetic against the background of an adult world that at times seems sternly prosaic. We see a lot of Yusuf, and want to know more about his point of view, but the director seems to be standing in front of the screen.
Bal
Kritik von Thorsten Funke
Extrem ruhig und extrem schön: Semih Kaplanoğlus Bal schließt die Yusuf-Trilogie des türkischen Regisseurs ab. Er bildet eine tief in sich ruhende Mitte des Berlinale-Wettbewerbs.
Die erste Einstellung dauert geschlagene fünf Minuten. Die Kamera steht unbeweglich im Wald, man lauscht den Geräuschen, irgendwann regt sich etwas im Dickicht. Ein Mann führt einen Esel vom Bildhintergrund in den Bildvordergrund, was allein schon eine ganze Weile dauert. Dann wirft er mit gekonntem Schwung ein Seil über einen außerhalb der Kadrierung liegenden Ast und zurrt es fest. Als endlich der Schnitt kommt, wird es geradezu dramatisch: Der Mann klettert, der Ast beginnt zu brechen, der Mann – nun rückt die Kamera näher und betrachtet ihn von oben – hängt hilflos in der Luft. Dann folgt noch ein Schnitt, und die Szene ist zu Ende.
Ein typischer Semih-Kaplanoğlu-Prolog, sehr verwandt dem Vorgängerfilm Süt (2008), der erst kürzlich in Deutschland im Kino lief (siehe dazu unsere Kritik und unser Interview). Da gab es auch eine sehr lange Einstellung zu Beginn, in der ein Baum und ein Seil eine Rolle spielten und eine Person an diesem Seil hing. Und es gab eine Schlange, die an verschiedenen Stellen des Films vielsagend-geheimnisvoll erneut auftauchte.
Reptilien gibt es in dem neuen Film nicht, der sehr viel weniger symbolisch aufgeladen ist. Vor allem der Prolog steht nicht als Monolith für sich, sondern erhält im weiteren Verlauf seinen Ort und seine Zeit in der Handlung zurück: Er reicht die Erzählung vom Tod des Vaters nach, jenes Mannes, der in Yumurta (2007) und Süt, den beiden ersten Teilen von Kaplanoğlus Yusuf-Trilogie, abwesend war.
Diese Trilogie handelt in umgekehrter Chronologie von der künstlerischen Reifung eines Dichters in der ländlichen, traditionellen Umgebung Anatoliens. Wurde in Teil eins zunächst das Erwachsenenleben Yusufs behandelt und dann in Teil zwei seine Jugend, so geht es in Bal nun um das etwa sechsjährige Kind. Von einer Berufung zum Dichter ist in diesem Film noch nicht viel zu merken: In der Schule macht das Lesen dem Jungen (Bora Altaş) gehörige Schwierigkeiten. Seine poetische Ader drückt sich eher in einem innigen Verhältnis zur Natur aus und in seiner Verschlossenheit, die die Mutter zuweilen ratlos werden lässt. Yusuf ist seinem Vater sehr stark verbunden und begleitet ihn bei der Arbeit in den Wald, den Kaplanoğlu mit der Kamera in wunderschönen Bildern einfängt wie eine Märchenlandschaft. Eine kleine Kamerafahrt entlang wilder Blumen. Ein Reh, das plötzlich, über Yusufs Schulter gefilmt, auf einer Lichtung steht – und darüber freut man sich wirklich. Der Mond, der sich in einem Wassereimer spiegelt, verschwindet, als Hände in das Wasser tauchen, und dann wieder erscheint. Wie ein wiederkehrender Traum.
Zugleich findet all das aber auch an einem sehr realen Ort statt. An dem Ort nämlich, an dem der Vater das Geld verdient. Er hängt Bienenstöcke an besonders hohe Bäume. Diese Sequenzen sind mehr ethnografisch als poetisch. Die Arbeitsschritte der Honiggewinnung werden gezeigt, verschiedene sehr unbekannt anmutende Gerätschaften, später auch mit einiger Ausführlichkeit ein traditioneller Tanz. Kaplanoğlu, dessen eigener Vater aus dieser Region Anatoliens stammt, hält all das mit fast schon konservatorischem Interesse fest, denn natürlich ist diese Welt in der modernen Türkei dem Untergang geweiht. Im weiteren Leben Yusufs, das wir schon kennen, er aber nicht, erhält die Moderne dort Einzug, mit Hochhäusern und Veränderungen der sozialen Strukturen.
Honey | Variety Review by Derek Elly
Berlin
Honey / Bal (Turkey-Germany)
By DEREK ELLEY
The final seg of self-styled Turkish auteur Semih Kaplanoglu's "Honey, Milk, Egg" trilogy (shot, natch, in reverse order) deals with its blank central character's childhood in the heavily wooded mountains of Rize province, northeast Turkey. The best-looking of the three and the most conventionally structured, this is still grindingly slow, content-light fare for card-carrying minimalists. Fest sidebars and Euro pubcaster slots loom.
With new d.p. Baris Ozbicer on board, Kaplanoglu appears to have discovered the visual merits of narrow depth of field and foreground framing devices, especially in the many schoolroom scenes and home interiors centered on its lonely protag, 6-year-old Yusuf (Bora Altas). Tyke's dad, Yakup (Erdal Besikcioglu), is a beekeeper who works deep in the forest; his mom, Zehra (Tulin Ozen), works on a tea plantation.
Shamed at school by his stutter, Yusuf takes pleasure in accompanying Dad on his honey rounds, finding the forest a place of mystery. When his father goes off alone in search of more bees, Yusuf feels isolated and retreats further into his own world.
More info about the small community's life -- and especially its religious/devotional background -- is in the pic's press materials than ever reaches the screen. Dialogue is at a premium throughout, Kaplanoglu typically holds fixed shots way beyond their usefulness, and music is rigorously avoided in attempting to sketch the kid's sense of wonder and inquiry.
As with "Egg" and "Milk," the pic's biggest flaw is that the viewer has no idea what the main characters are thinking or feeling and therefore tunes out emotionally at an early stage. The real star of the picture is writer-director Kaplanoglu -- which would be OK if he had anything to share with auds apart from auteurist mannerisms.
Tech package is fine.
A Kaplan Film Prod. (Turkey)/Heimatfilm (Germany) production, in association with ZDF, Arte. (International sales: the Match Factory, Cologne.) Produced by Semih Kaplanoglu. Co-producers, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper. Directed by Semih Kaplanoglu. Screenplay, Kaplanoglu, Orcun Koksal.
With: Bora Altas, Erdal Besikcioglu, Tulin Ozen.
Camera (color), Baris Ozbicer; editors, Ayhan Ergursel, Kaplanoglu, S. Hande Guneri; art director, Naz Erayda; sound (Dolby Digital), Matthias Haeb; associate producer, Alexander Bohr. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (competing), Feb. 16, 2010. Running time: 104 MIN.
Honey / Bal (Turkey-Germany)
By DEREK ELLEY
The final seg of self-styled Turkish auteur Semih Kaplanoglu's "Honey, Milk, Egg" trilogy (shot, natch, in reverse order) deals with its blank central character's childhood in the heavily wooded mountains of Rize province, northeast Turkey. The best-looking of the three and the most conventionally structured, this is still grindingly slow, content-light fare for card-carrying minimalists. Fest sidebars and Euro pubcaster slots loom.
With new d.p. Baris Ozbicer on board, Kaplanoglu appears to have discovered the visual merits of narrow depth of field and foreground framing devices, especially in the many schoolroom scenes and home interiors centered on its lonely protag, 6-year-old Yusuf (Bora Altas). Tyke's dad, Yakup (Erdal Besikcioglu), is a beekeeper who works deep in the forest; his mom, Zehra (Tulin Ozen), works on a tea plantation.
Shamed at school by his stutter, Yusuf takes pleasure in accompanying Dad on his honey rounds, finding the forest a place of mystery. When his father goes off alone in search of more bees, Yusuf feels isolated and retreats further into his own world.
More info about the small community's life -- and especially its religious/devotional background -- is in the pic's press materials than ever reaches the screen. Dialogue is at a premium throughout, Kaplanoglu typically holds fixed shots way beyond their usefulness, and music is rigorously avoided in attempting to sketch the kid's sense of wonder and inquiry.
As with "Egg" and "Milk," the pic's biggest flaw is that the viewer has no idea what the main characters are thinking or feeling and therefore tunes out emotionally at an early stage. The real star of the picture is writer-director Kaplanoglu -- which would be OK if he had anything to share with auds apart from auteurist mannerisms.
Tech package is fine.
A Kaplan Film Prod. (Turkey)/Heimatfilm (Germany) production, in association with ZDF, Arte. (International sales: the Match Factory, Cologne.) Produced by Semih Kaplanoglu. Co-producers, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper. Directed by Semih Kaplanoglu. Screenplay, Kaplanoglu, Orcun Koksal.
With: Bora Altas, Erdal Besikcioglu, Tulin Ozen.
Camera (color), Baris Ozbicer; editors, Ayhan Ergursel, Kaplanoglu, S. Hande Guneri; art director, Naz Erayda; sound (Dolby Digital), Matthias Haeb; associate producer, Alexander Bohr. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (competing), Feb. 16, 2010. Running time: 104 MIN.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Bal by Semih Kaplanoglu
Mavi Boncuk |
Synopsis
Yusuf is an only child who lives with his parents in an isolated mountain area. For the young boy, the surrounding forest becomes a place of mystery and adventure when accompanying his father on the job. Yusuf watches in admiration as his beekeeper father Yakup hangs specially-made hives at the top of the tallest trees. With the skill of a tightrope acrobat, he must often suspend dangerously from the uppermost branches to gather honey. The strong bond that he has with his father cannot protect Yusuf from becoming an outsider during his first year of school. Yusuf's stutter shames him in front of his classmates during oral reading assignments. Yusuf's anxieties escalate when his father must travel to a faraway forest on a risky mission. His father gone, Yusuf slips into silence to the distress of his pretty young mother Zehra. Days pass and Yakup still does not return. Yusuf sees his mother becoming sadder everyday. Yusuf summons all of his courage and goes deep into the forest to search for his father. A journey into the unknown...
Director Semih Kaplanoglu is one of the most profiled writers/ directors/producers of present-day filmmaking in Turkey, having received important national awards such as the Golden Orange (Antalya IFF) and the Golden Tulip award (Istanbul IFF) for his third feature »Yumurta« (Egg). His feature films have also screened at festivals around the world, earning him international awards, such as FIPRESCI prize for »Süt« (Milk) at the Istanbul International Film Festival and the Best Film Alternativa award for »Melegin Düsüsü« (Angel's fall) at the Barcelona Independent Film Festival.
»Bal« (Honey) is the third part of the Yusuf Trilogy, which traces the origins of a soul. Like in his previous films, Semih Kaplanoglu decides to work without music to create the emotional world of the film.
Filmography as writer, director, producer:
2010 »Bal« (Honey, feature film) World premiere in Berlin 2010
2008 »Süt« (Milk, feature film) World premiere in Venice 2009
2007 »Yumurta« (Egg, feature film) World premiere in Cannes 2008
2004 »Melegin Düsüsü« (Angel’s fall, feature film) World premiere in Berlin 2005 2000 »Herkes kendi evinde« (Away from home, feature film)
Cast: Bora Altaş Erdal Beşikçioğlu Tülin ÖzenCrew Production Manager: Aksel Kamber
Sound: Matthias Haeb
Art Director: Naz Erayda
Editor: Ayhan Ergürsel, Semih Kaplanoğlu, S. Hande Güneri
Screenplay: Semih Kaplanoğlu, Orçun Köksal
Associate Producer: Alexander Bohr
Co-Producers: Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper
Producer: Semih Kaplanoğlu Production
Company: Kaplan Film Production
Co-Production Company: Heimatfilm
Technical Data Format: 35mm / 1:1,85 / Colour / Dolby Digital Length: 103 min. Original language: Turkish Original title:Bal
World Sales: Match Factory
The Match Factory GmbH | Cologne/Germany
bal-pressbook.pdf (3,876.8 kB)
Review | Honey by Semih Kaplanoglu
Honey -- Film Review
By Ray Bennett, February 17, 2010 12:09 ET
"Honey"Bottom Line: Beautiful meditation on familial love and the mysteries of nature.
BERLIN --- The third entry in Turkish filmmaker Semih Kaplanoglu's trilogy about a young poet named Yusuf, "Honey" ("Bal"), sees him as a 6-year-old, learning the harsh realities of nature as his beekeeper father disappears in the forest.
Measured and contemplative with a remarkable performance by Boras Altas, then 7, and superlative cinematography by Baris Ozbicer, the film will follow its predecessors in winning great appreciation at film festivals. It may also attract art houses with audiences interested in things bucolic and spiritual.
The relationship between the beekeeper (Erdal Besikcioglu) and the forest is established early in the film as we see how closely the boy follows in his father's footsteps. The cages for the honey are placed high in tall trees, so his work is very dangerous and almost right away while he is off working alone, a tree snaps and the man is left hanging by a rope.
The film moves back to tell how he came to be there. Kaplanoglu and co-screenwriter Orcun Koksal contrive small and delicate scenes to evoke the strong emotional bond between father and son. They whisper to each other and the boy learns about time and place, the nature of birds, and the names, smells and taste of flowers.
Mother (Tulin Ozen) is a benign but mostly silent presence and only comes to the fore when her husband is believed missing. In a touching scene, the boy who has shown that he hates milk, drinks a glass down unasked just to please her.
The boy's struggle to read and please his teacher in class contrasts with his assurance in the woods and, while the fate of his father remains unknown, the film conveys powerfully that the boy will continue to know his way.
Kaplanoglu draws a multi-faceted performance from the boy helped greatly by Besikcioglu's solid presence as the father while the gentle strength of the mother is well captured by Ozen, using small glances to great effect.
Slow-paced and without music other than the calls and cries of the forest creatures, "Honey" suggests that while nature is not full of human kindness, humans may find salvation there.
Venue: Berlin International Film Festival -- In Competition
Production: Kaplan Film, Heimatfilm
Director-screenwriter-producer: Semih Kaplanoglu
Cast: Boras Altas, Erdal Besikcioglu, Tulin Ozen
Screenwriter: Orcan Koksul
Director of photography: Baris Ozbicer
Production designer: Naz Erayda
Sales: The Match Factory
Not rated, 103 minutes
By Ray Bennett, February 17, 2010 12:09 ET
"Honey"Bottom Line: Beautiful meditation on familial love and the mysteries of nature.
BERLIN --- The third entry in Turkish filmmaker Semih Kaplanoglu's trilogy about a young poet named Yusuf, "Honey" ("Bal"), sees him as a 6-year-old, learning the harsh realities of nature as his beekeeper father disappears in the forest.
Measured and contemplative with a remarkable performance by Boras Altas, then 7, and superlative cinematography by Baris Ozbicer, the film will follow its predecessors in winning great appreciation at film festivals. It may also attract art houses with audiences interested in things bucolic and spiritual.
The relationship between the beekeeper (Erdal Besikcioglu) and the forest is established early in the film as we see how closely the boy follows in his father's footsteps. The cages for the honey are placed high in tall trees, so his work is very dangerous and almost right away while he is off working alone, a tree snaps and the man is left hanging by a rope.
The film moves back to tell how he came to be there. Kaplanoglu and co-screenwriter Orcun Koksal contrive small and delicate scenes to evoke the strong emotional bond between father and son. They whisper to each other and the boy learns about time and place, the nature of birds, and the names, smells and taste of flowers.
Mother (Tulin Ozen) is a benign but mostly silent presence and only comes to the fore when her husband is believed missing. In a touching scene, the boy who has shown that he hates milk, drinks a glass down unasked just to please her.
The boy's struggle to read and please his teacher in class contrasts with his assurance in the woods and, while the fate of his father remains unknown, the film conveys powerfully that the boy will continue to know his way.
Kaplanoglu draws a multi-faceted performance from the boy helped greatly by Besikcioglu's solid presence as the father while the gentle strength of the mother is well captured by Ozen, using small glances to great effect.
Slow-paced and without music other than the calls and cries of the forest creatures, "Honey" suggests that while nature is not full of human kindness, humans may find salvation there.
Venue: Berlin International Film Festival -- In Competition
Production: Kaplan Film, Heimatfilm
Director-screenwriter-producer: Semih Kaplanoglu
Cast: Boras Altas, Erdal Besikcioglu, Tulin Ozen
Screenwriter: Orcan Koksul
Director of photography: Baris Ozbicer
Production designer: Naz Erayda
Sales: The Match Factory
Not rated, 103 minutes
'Bal' wins top honors at Berlinale
Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu's film 'Bal' (Honey) won the Berlin Film Festival's prestigious Golden Bear prize for 2010. "Honey," The heart-warming drama from Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu,
"Honey," is the final film in Kaplanoglu's autobiographical trilogy - the others are "Egg" (2007) and "Milk" (2008) - follows a young boy in rural Turkey whose father collects wild honey. It was one of the few life-affirming films in this year's Berlinale line-up and was an underdog favorite for the top prize. The film tells the story of a young boy in an isolated mountain area who ventures into the forest in search of his father.
The Berlinale Jury, headed by director Werner Herzog, gave its Silver Bear Jury Prize to a very different film: Florin Serban's pull-no-punches look at juvenile delinquents in Romania, "If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle." "Whistle" also nabbed the Alfred Bauer award, named after the Berlinale's founder.
Japanese actress Shinobu Terajima won best actress for her role in 'Caterpillar,' while Grigori Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis won best actor for Russian film 'How I Ended This Summer,' which also received the award for outstanding artistic contribution.
Bal/Honey also won the Ecumenical Jury Prize:
Competition: “Bal” (Honey) directed by Semih Kaplanoglu
Panorama: “Kawasakiho ruze” (Kawasaki’s Rose) directed by Jan Hrebejk
Forum: “Aisheen [Still Alive in Gaza]” directed by Nicolas Wadimoff
"Honey," is the final film in Kaplanoglu's autobiographical trilogy - the others are "Egg" (2007) and "Milk" (2008) - follows a young boy in rural Turkey whose father collects wild honey. It was one of the few life-affirming films in this year's Berlinale line-up and was an underdog favorite for the top prize. The film tells the story of a young boy in an isolated mountain area who ventures into the forest in search of his father.
The Berlinale Jury, headed by director Werner Herzog, gave its Silver Bear Jury Prize to a very different film: Florin Serban's pull-no-punches look at juvenile delinquents in Romania, "If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle." "Whistle" also nabbed the Alfred Bauer award, named after the Berlinale's founder.
Japanese actress Shinobu Terajima won best actress for her role in 'Caterpillar,' while Grigori Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis won best actor for Russian film 'How I Ended This Summer,' which also received the award for outstanding artistic contribution.
Bal/Honey also won the Ecumenical Jury Prize:
Competition: “Bal” (Honey) directed by Semih Kaplanoglu
Panorama: “Kawasakiho ruze” (Kawasaki’s Rose) directed by Jan Hrebejk
Forum: “Aisheen [Still Alive in Gaza]” directed by Nicolas Wadimoff
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