Gitmek: Benim Marlon ve Brandom (My Marlon and Brando)

When I check festivals there are films that really call my attention for no specific reason, try not to read about them even when I post synopsis and/or trailers and forget about them. In 2008 at the Rotterdam film the catchy film name stick to my mind and it wasn't until today that I was able to watch it as the film is screened online for free at The Auteurs.

The film slowly starts to involve you until it becomes really mesmerizing for Ayca Damgaci performance, when the story hits the road to show great landscapes, watching ordinary people in ordinary situations even when there was war nearby, and very tacky video love letters that show a lot more than a love message.

Reading about the film learned that is Huseyin Karabey first feature film as he mainly does documentaries and surprisingly learned that the story is real, happened to Ayca Damgaci -who reenacts her love story- and the video love letters are the real ones she received from her beloved Hama Ali Kahn.

Yes the film is a love story between a Turkish actress and an Iraqi actor that met during the filming of a film and fell in love; their problem is that when the film is over, each went back to their country and all happens not long before the Iraq war. They want to see each other but Hama is not allowed to leave Iraq, especially when the Americans start to bomb Iraq and war explodes. So Ayca decides to go to him and the most extraordinary and very exotic to my eyes trip starts from Istanbul into Turkey's north, the Iraq border, and Iran. You can really tell that Karabey's has great experience as a document recorder as his directing style travels collecting little details that surround his main character Ayca.

Is a fascinating film at many levels, especially to my occidental eyes that never been around that part of the world and much less in times of war, which is another level as silently in the background shows people reactions to the war, from indifference in Turkey to what we see in the love video letters and other situations Ayca faces during her trip.

Definitively not for all audiences but I believe that because tells a 'love story' could appeal to many and if they dare to watch I'm sure many will become mesmerized by Ayca performance, the situations and will watch until the end. But this docudrama is artish, so do not expect fast story development and you will enjoy more the ride.

I highly recommend this film -that collected several awards since premiered at 2008 Rotterdam fest- as an odd real-life woman story, a document of a war most of us know from the 'other side', and the most marvelous trip into not often seen in movies areas of the world.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Sonbahar (Autumn)

I found this film to be extremely beautiful to watch but has a story that if you know Turkey's history hits hard and if you don’t, still hits hard as a voyage into the last days of a very ill man -that in my personal opinion- revisits his past and grieves in silence his life.

The film written and directed by Özcan Alper is a complex story told mostly in silence –even when at moments gave excess of unnecessary information- and great expressions by main actors that gravitates around the not so long ago (the 90‘s) incidents that happened in Turkey and an idealist that ends up in jail for ten years only to be liberated because he’s dying, so he returns to his small mountain village only to find that most of the population are elderly people and a few younger ones that feel trapped in the village. Is a story of contrasts, of failure, of lost ideals, of repression and aggression, and most of all, of the reality that many had to face in Turkey during and after the 90’s.

The film has extraordinary cinematography with very poetic views of magnificent mountains that go from fall to winter. The music score is truly outstanding and highly contributes for you to feel the landscapes and main characters emotions. Performances are amazing with special mention to Onur Saylak that plays Yusuf and Megi Kobaladze that plays Eka, the Georgian prostitute.

Definitively not for all audiences and the best reference I can give is that if you enjoyed Nuri Belge Ceylan’s Climates, surely will highly appreciate this film. But here the story is powerful and hard-hitting. The movie won the Best Director at the 2009 Sofia fest and at the 2008 Tbilisi fest and awards are well deserved especially when is Alper’s debut film and definitively does not look or feel like his first oeuvre.

I loved the visuals, liked the story even when I felt it was really hard (but reality is hard) and highly recommend it to those that like great Turkish cinema.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Süt (Milk)

The most incredible visual voyage that I have taken lately with many images that recall other master filmmakers, but that tell us that Semih Kaplanoğlu is very close to be a master in his own right. I was totally mesmerized by the still camera with long shots, the outstanding use of light, the magnificent compositions, the sounds and the very dramatic outdoor and indoor cinematography. Bravo!

The film opens with a long scene that is shocking and sets the mood for mythology and rural traditions that will contrast with a few scenes that tell about the transition to modern life, not only with images shown but also with characters attitudes in the story.

I was really looking forward to the second installment of the Yusuf trilogy, still recall the story and my great experience with the first installment Yumurta (Egg). Then perhaps some of you remember that Kaplanoğlu is telling the story in reverse order, so from the older Yusuf of Yumurta we now have a young Yusuf living with his mother, trying to get his poems published and being disconcerted when he finds that his mother is having an affair. The story told in this movie allows us to understand why Yusuf left Tire and does it with a mother/son drama that evolves at a very slow pace.

With very little and inconsequential dialogue plus marvelous silences, Kaplanoğlu really plays with us viewers with the very simple –yet complex- story, but does it so beautifully that you really have a hard time not getting lost inside the images and pay attention to the multiple metaphors, images and little details to follow the story. In this sense I had a harder time following the story in Süt than in Yumurta, as I had to pull me out of the magic of the images several times and tell me that there was a story that I’m supposed to be following!

I truly enjoyed the performances by both leads; but not surprisingly I see them as part of the image compositions… it was like watching one painting after another, but this is no classic painting. These are mundane paintings that you will not see in museums. Great! Then you have the amazing use of light to make indoor and outdoor takes really dramatic and perhaps the best was the use of sound that made me feel I was inside the picture, that I was there in the place, that everything was real, especially in the hunting scenes. Absolutely amazing!

Definitively this is a movie that I’ll watch more than once. Obviously to follow better the story, but hoping to get lost in the images again! Now the wait for the third installment, Bal (Honey) will be hardly endurable, as if Süt was such an experience, Bal probably will have a more mature Semih Kaplanoğlu and who knows what he’s going to do with images. Bal will tell about Yusuf as a kid and will definitively explain many things that happen in Süt. I know that eventually I will play with the filmmaker and will see the three installments in chronological order. That will be my revenge to understand better the story.

I love this movie and I strongly recommend it to those that enjoyed Yumurta and appreciate cinema as a true art form.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion