After four years of mandatory service in a remote village in Eastern Anatolia, Samet (Deniz Celiloglu), a young teacher, is desperate to return to Istanbul. He shares his apartment with his fellow teacher and best friend Kenan (Musab Ekici), who is more easygoing and content with his current posting. Samet likes to photograph the local people individually and in groups against the stunning snow-covered countryside, which extends as far as the eye can see to the distant mountains. However, you know these images are taken with clinical detachment and condescension. The only resident he is interested in is Sevim (Ece Bagci), his pet student. However, when he is accused of inappropriate contact by two students in his class, his attitude darkens, and his contempt for the village people increases. It is at this point that he meets a fellow teacher, Nuray (Merve Dizar, who won Best Actress at this year’s Cannes Film Festival), in whom he has no interest – she has lost part of her leg in an explosion that happened during a political demonstration – until he realizes that Kenan is taken with her and also that marrying her would increase his chances of returning to the big city.
Turkey’s most outstanding film director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, has delivered his best film. At 197 minutes, it initially seems like a chore, but like the recent Icelandic marvel “Godland,” it is one of those great works of art whose longevity works to its and the audience’s advantage. You are under its spell after the first ten minutes and do not emerge until the final credits role. The dialogue (is a wordy film), written by the director and his wife and longtime writing partner Ebru Ceylan and Akin Aksu, whose personal experiences as a teacher form the basis of the story, is never dull. There is something hypnotic about the “speeches” that all three leading actors deliver. The dynamic between Samet and Kenan, who, although friends could be night and day in terms of personality, holds one’s interest from the beginning. However, Dizar’s magnificent performance as Nuray, a woman who has lived through things that Samet can only imagine, takes over the film’s second and more impressive half.
Please see this fantastic film. You will be glad you did.
