Euro 2024 Film Spotlight

A criteria for previous Euro Film spotlights (Euro 2008, Euro 2012, Euro 2016) was to select previously unseen films or films from unknown directors. This led to some exciting discoveries and many months of viewing or hunting the film down. This time around, I have kept things a bit simpler. The main criteria for this Euro 2024 Film spotlight is to select some of the best films previously seen from each country. As a result, this will allow for a much more richer cinematic head-to-head competition. 9 decades are represented by these films with the earliest from 1949 and the newest from one from 2021.

Here are the 24 Top European films:

Group A
Germany: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, Werner Herzog)
Switzerland: The Boat is Full (1981, Markus Imhoof)
Hungary: Satantango (1994, Béla Tarr)
Scotland: Gregory’s girl (1980, Bill Forsyth)

Group B
Spain: Death of a Cyclist (1955, Juan Antonio Bardem)
Italy: The Battle of Algiers (1966, Gillo Pontecorvo)
Albania: Daybreak (2017, Gentian Koçi)
Croatia: Buick Riviera (2008, Goran Rusinovic)

Group C
Slovenia: Spare Parts (2003, Damjan Kozole)
Denmark: Babette’s Feast (1987, Gabriel Axel)
Serbia: Underground (1995, Emir Kusturica)
England: The Third Man (1949, Carol Reed)

Group D
Poland: Dekalog (1989/90, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Holland: The Vanishing (1988, George Sluizer)
Austria: Homo Sapiens (2016, Nikolaus Geyrhalter)
France: Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson)

Group E
Belgium: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Chantal Akerman)
Slovakia: Orbis Pictus (1997, Martin Sulík)
Romania:  The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Cristi Puiu)
Ukraine:  My Joy (2010, Sergey Loznitsa)

Group F
Turkey: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Georgia: What Do We See When We Look At the Sky? (2021, Aleksandre Koberidze)
Portugal:  Mudar de Vida (Change of Life, 1966, Paulo Rocha)
Czech Republic: Closely Watched Trains (1966, Jirí Menzel)

Results of the Group matches, knockout phases will be posted in a few weeks.

Calgary International Film Festival 2010, preview II

Taylor's Way

A quite incredible film that effortlessly switches gears between three different genres with considerable ease. The opening 15 minutes appear to be familiar territory (girl in a bad relationship is picked up by a guy at a bar) but then the film transforms into a road journey/self-discovery story which navigates the beautiful British Columbia countryside. Yet, amid the beauty and tranquility signs of darkness start to slowly filter through. However, the meaning of these signs is only revealed in the film's final moments. A must see film!

Pelada

Soccer is called the beautiful game. Now, that beauty may be hard to find on a professional or international game pitch but it does exist. Proof of that genuine beauty is provided courtesy of an American college duo who hit the road to play pick-up games in various countries. Their journey takes them to unlikely destinations such as a Bolivian prison, a slum in Kenya, a roof-top in Japan, a playing field in Iran and the streets of China. The end result is a magnificent documentary that highlights why the world loves this game and how the real passion of the game exists on the streets amid everyday people. Professional soccer players, their managers and FIFA should be forced to watch this film and lower their heads in shame. Because the ugliness of the World Cup and its negative play (4-5-1/5-5-0 tactics, dives, fouls) is ruining the game yet uglier the game gets, the more money these professional players make.

Bioscope

An engaging Indian film that demonstrates the hypnotic effect that cinema has on people. Some of the film’s strongest scenes are those where there is no dialogue and the beautiful haunting images (such as the recurring dream of a dead body washed ashore) flood the screen. The film is set in 1921 India when cinema was largely unknown in the country. So we witness villagers seeing cinema for the first time and observe how their views are shaped – some consider the device as ungodly while others are entranced by the images. And we even get to meet a character (Diwakaran) whose love for the new medium leads him to neglect everything around him and only focus on cinema. In fact, Diwakaran probably depicts the actions of the first cinephile in Indian history.

Cinema is such an integral part of modern Indian life that it is hard to imagine Indian society without movies. So it is fascinating to watch a film which shows how love for cinema started to make its way through Indian life.

At World's End

This humorous Danish film is a throwback to the 1980’s style of action/adventure comedies. In a way, it is refreshing to see an old fashioned film about adventure in an exotic land told with humor and a bit of political incorrectness. The actress Birgitte Sorensen steals the show and it wouldn't be a surprize to see her land bigger profile roles in the future.

Norberto's Deadline

Norberto is drifting aimlessly in life until he finds his true love in theater. However, if it was not for theater, then it is likely possible that Norberto would morph into either a Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) or a Raúl Peralta (Tony Manero). It is to Daniel Hendler's credit that he allows us to closely observe Norberto in his moments of despair and misery so that we can better understand Norberto and comprehend how someone who is just one or two steps away from a complete breakdown can still find the courage to salvage their life.

Mundane History

Winner of a Tiger Award at Rotterdam, Mundane History is cut from the same cloth as one of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's films. Yet, Anocha Suwichakornpong is able to carve out an individual identity and demonstrate true talent in two mesmerizing sequences which break away from the 'mundane' everyday life scenes. The first sequence charts a journey all the way to the origins of the universe. And the second sequence charts events following the big bang towards a human birth and lands firmly in the main characters hospital room location, thereby putting the whole story into perspective. Patient viewers will be rewarded with a truly cinematic treasure.

Kosmos

Reha Erdem is certainly an intriguing filmmaker but at times he can be frustrating as well. While each of his last three films have improved their visual beauty, each successive work has had a slight dip in the story and character depiction. Times and Winds was a satisfying film where the cinematography was perfectly in sync with the coming of age tale while in My Only Sunshine the on-screen beauty overpowered the bleak tale. Now with his latest offering Kosmos, Reha Erdem has given us a delicious visual treat but the story is not as dark as the cinematography points to. There are hints of distrust about the magical healing powers of the outsider and a bit of cosmic interference (UFO) but the innocent love tale slightly halts the film's mesmerizing rhythm. Still, it deserves to be seen because it is one of the best shot films of the year.

The Famous and the Dead

Every now and then there appears a film that reminds everyone that there is more to Brazil than soccer, beaches, samba, favelas, poverty and crime. A few years ago, it was Heitor Dhalia's wonderfully bizarre Drained set in a warehouse that showed a Brazil devoid of these common symbols and now it is Esmir Filho's chance with The Famous and the Dead. There are no beaches to be seen in The Famous and the Dead and the film's depiction of suburban isolation and loneliness is more familiar material for American Indie cinema. Yet the setting of such themes in Brazil highlights how similar issues can take place in any part of the world, especially in a modern globally connected world where various social networking sites and blogs allow people to hide their true identities and assume another.

The film's chilly mood and atmosphere goes perfectly with the theme of death and suicide. In fact, in almost all scenes one can detect the presence of death hovering above the main character. The film also does a great job of integrating social networking sites, blogs, online videos within the story to highlight the main character's sense of isolation. Also, the transition from the web videos to regular footage is seamless. The end result is a work that is very much in tune with modern times, aspects that most current cinema seems to sidestep.

Note: The film's look and mood evokes the chilly winter conditions of Canada or Northern Europe. So in a way, the film is a perfect companion to the fall weather that greets CIFF every year:)

Family Tree

There have been quite a few films that have used a family gathering as a starting point to uncover a dark past about one of the family members (such as Celebration, Monsoon Wedding). So directors Olivier Duscastel and Jacques Martineau deserve a lot of praise for using this familiar template to make an intelligent and delicate film which manages to deliver an emotional punch. A son's funeral is the starting point for unwrapping a family secret that provides quite a shock when all is said and done. An incredibly moving film!

Turkish Cinema

It has been a vintage year for Turkish cinema. The year started off with the Rotterdam Film Festival having a wonderful spotlight on Young Turkish Cinema. A few months later, at the Istanbul film festival local Turkish films managed to shine through. And as the year has gone on, new fascinating Turkish films have continued to pop up, like the wonderful Wrong Rosary that screened at CIFF’s Maverick competition.

But here are 5 films that featured at Rotterdam and Istanbul. The films are arranged in order of personal preference.

The Storm (director Kazim Öz)



This politically alive film handles the debate about Kurdish identity and illustrates the revolutionary awakening from a youth perspective. The political issues and revolutionary planning aspects presented in the film could easily apply to other parts of the world like the summer student protests in Iran. Even though the film was released last year in Turkey, it has hardly gotten any press coverage. One big reason could be because of the portrayal of the Turkish police and Government. The film is only shown from the Kurdish student’s point of view and the Turkish Government is shown to be the enemy and at times things look like a police state. Such a depiction of the state might have caused this movie to be looked unfavorably in certain quarters. But the film is highly relevant and shows how the seeds of revolution can take hold at an early age as students (and young adults) can be transformed into revolutionaries. The flip-side is that these same revolutionaries can be labeled as terrorists, depending on who is reporting the story.

The Storm may not be as visually stunning as other recent Turkish films but its cinematography is perfect for the story and gives the audience a fly on the wall view of the secret conversations that go on behind closed doors. There are two interesting shots in the film that convey the mood of the main character Cemal. When Cemal is on his way from his village to Istanbul, he throws a stone in the river. As the stone skips on the water, the camera is placed on the opposite side and we witness the stone gain momentum until it speeds past the camera. This same action is taken from a different angle near the film’s end, when Cemal is returning back to his village from Istanbul. He throws a stone again in the river but this time the camera is placed behind the stone and shows the stone skip and quietly disappear into the water. Cemal’s face hardly conveys any emotion but the position of the camera gives us a glimpse into his inner state. In the first instance, when the stone approaches the camera, we get a sense of a burst of energy and this mimics the enthusiasm with which Cemal is looking forward to university. But at the film’s end, he is returning tired and beat up from his city experience. He throws the stone with the same force but the camera angle allows us to see the stone quietly sinking into the water. Cemal is at peace at the film’s end and has had enough of the city life, so one can naturally assume that he will spend the rest of his life back in his village, a place where he will be eventually buried.

These are the words for the film on Rotterdam’s website: "Hardcore and heart-wrenching, The Storm has already started to gain cult status among young audiences in Turkey."

I can easily imagine that this film will indeed gain momentum in certain sections of Turkish society but I do hope that more people outside Turkey can get to see this gem.

Milk (director Semih Kaplanoglu)



An absolutely wonderful film that is packed with plenty of symbolism and cinematic beauty. The film manages to delicately handle a few issues such as a son's attempts to get published, his failed attempts at love, his relationship with his mother and adds a mystical element regarding the powers of milk to drive away evil. The relationship of the son to the mother feels similar to the one portrayed in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Three Monkeys but Milk shows more maturity and depth than Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s award winning film did.

note: Milk contains one of the most eye opening scenes I have ever seen on film in recent years. The image in question was something that I had never read about nor seen on camera, so this film added a new image to my memories. I won’t give it away but all I can say is that the image is not out of context and is relevant for a thread that runs through the movie.

My Only Sunshine (director Reha Erdem)



One of the year’s best shot films!! The film has a beautiful visual language but the story is not as strong as that of Reha Erdem’s previous feature Times and Winds. In My Only Sunshine every single bleak situation is easily anticipated but the film does have a knight in shining armour that comes to save the day, but the knight is in the form of a foreign soccer fan who arrives on his boat to give the film a much needed light fairy tale feel.

Pandora’s Box (director Yesim Ustaoglu)



An enjoyable Turkish family film that blends humor with emotional drama. There are some slack aspects in the movie but those are balanced out by some quiet thoughtful moments which give a glimpse into the character's lives.

Two Lines (director Selim Evci)



A nice debut film which is similar in style to Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Climates. The relationship of the main couple is developed patiently with plenty of excellent expressions and moments of contemplation.

---

update: Wrong Rosary had also screened at the Rotterdam (where it won an award) and Istanbul film festivals.

CIFF 2009 Diary, Days 6-8

Day 6: Wednesday, Sept 30

The 10 film Maverick competition kicked off on September 30 with 4 screenings, followed by a further 4 on Thursday and the final two on Friday night.

Schedule for the 10 Maverick films:

Wednesday -- Juntos, Everyone Else, Unmade Beds and Karaoke.
Thursday -- Be Good, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Wrong Rosary and Fish Eyes.
Friday -- My Suicide and Be Calm and Count to Seven.

I had seen four stellar films prior to the festival (Be Calm and Count to Seven, Everyone Else, Fish Eyes and Karaoke) and I was looking forward to seeing a few more.

Juntos (2009, Canada/Mexico, Nicolás Pereda)

Before the screening, Nicolás Pereda mentioned that he felt strange talking about Juntos as a movie because originally it was intended to be an art gallery project. He then asked the audience to watch the film with an open mind.

It is easy to see why this work could have been an art gallery project. One can imagine seeing the footage beamed on walls as audiences walk by a particular moment and then return later on to see what the three characters are up to. The film contains long static takes and gives a glimpse into the relationship between three people living in an apartment -- Gabino, his girlfriend Luisa and his friend Paco. Gabino finds himself in the middle of this awkward dynamic as Luisa's dislike at Paco's presence means that Gabino's relationship with Luisa is put under stress. The stress is conveyed early on and reaches breaking point in a stellar 10 minute long dialogue less scene with Gabino and Luisa sitting quietly at the kitchen table. With each passing second in this scene, one can feel the tension rise between the two and had Gabino dared to speak a word, then the relationship would surely have been over then and there.

The title Juntos refers to Gabino's dog that goes missing at the film's start. The dog's disappearance also signals the degradation of the relationship Gabino has with Luisa and Paco, although Gabino's easy going manner with Paco suggests that he will eventually forgive any of Paco's mistakes (a beautiful dialogue exchange between the two when Gabino is working on the sink pipes is another strong highlight of the film). There is also a scene that will inspire walkouts or discontent from the audience. In this particular scene, the camera does not shy away from watching Gabino take a bath in the nude. The scene starts off with Gabino's member slightly covered but slowly, everything is out in the open. This long sequence, which features Gabino lathering himself with soap, brought laughter from some of the women in the crowd and caused one man to loudly blame another woman for bringing him to see this movie. The man walked out a few minutes after the scene was over. But the scene does bring up the question that if it was a woman shown bathing instead of a man, would there have been any walkouts or even any laughter?

There are also some precious moments of humour derived from watching the characters and their crumbling household appliances. The film certainly requires an investment from the audience and does reward those who are patient enough.

note: Robert Koehler's review is worth reading.

Karaoke

After Juntos I headed down to the Plaza to meet up with Chris Chong Chan Fui and introduce his film. As it turned out, Karaoke proved to a frustrating challenge for quite a few of the audience members, including some good friends.

Day 7: Thursday, Oct 1

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009, USA, Damien Chazelle)

This black and white free flowing jazzy film is a breath of fresh air and has shades of John Cassavetes. The story is simple enough -- Boy Meets Girl, Boy dumps Girl, Boy meets another Girl and eventually Boy realizes he made a mistake. But the film has such a beautiful free style to it, like a jazz piece, that one can forget about the story and enjoy the images that are musically conveyed on the screen. There are also a few musical numbers, especially the cute restaurant tap dance sequence, that are integrated nicely in the film's framework.

Note: originally I had intended on seeing Be Good but then I changed my mind because I figured that I might have better chance of catching Be Good on DVD than Damien Chazelle's film. As good as Guy and Madeline.. is, I do wonder what future the film might have outside of the film festival circuit.

Wrong Rosary (2009, Turkey, Mahmut Fazil Coskun)

There is a famous Indian song from the film Padosan: "Mere samne wali khidki mein ek chand ka tukda rahta hai..". which roughly translates to "a beautiful girl lives next door" (I think an exact translation for this song would lessen the impact). The words for that song perfectly describe the story in Wrong Rosary as Musa, a muezzin, is smitten by his neighbour Clara. While the two belong to different religions, it is not religion that forms a barrier in their relationship but instead Musa's shyness gets in the way. Gradually, as he takes takes baby steps to edge towards Clara, we see his confidence grow. And just when things look like heading towards a happy sunset over the Bosphorus, a heart breaking conflict is thrown in the mix, ensuring some tears will take place.

Overall, Wrong Rosary is a wonderful crowd pleasing film. At times, the two characters of Musa and Clara look straight out of a Chaplin movie as both are outcasts in the beautiful city of Istanbul.

Note: Wrong Rosary continues the trend of fine Turkish films I have seen this year. And like most of those Turkish films, Wrong Rosary is expertly shot and allows one to completely soak in the atmosphere. The previous Turkish films that I saw this year will be outlined in a “Spotlight on Turkey” post shortly.

Day 8: Friday, Oct 2

Zero films seen!!

Despite my best intention of seeing a film on friday, a bizarre sequence of events (rain + car troubles) ensured that I once again failed to see a film on each of the 10 festival days.

Still, the rest was welcome as I was able to take in a record 7 films on saturday.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Films

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Turkish snapshots

There is plenty of beauty to be found in both of Nuri Bilge Ceylan's features Climates and Distant. Even though there isn't much dialogue in both films, one hardly notices the lack of words because the camera is so well placed that we can perfectly understand what the characters are thinking and feeling.

A relationship on the ropes: Climates (2006)

A marriage is breaking apart.



We witness intimate moments between the couple. Very early on, we can tell something is not right between the two. In the following picture the wife, Bahar (Ebru Ceylan), wakes up from a dream she had on the beach. What did she dream about? That her husband (Isa played by Nuri himself) was throwing sand on her face and suffocating her. Hmmm..



The distance between the two is growing.



Just like in Distant, the male character still finds time to take beautiful pictures.



In a cafe thinking about his life and waiting to get Bahar back.



The snow falls tenderly around Bahar, not wanting to disturb her thoughts.


The intimate scenes between the couple and their solitary moments when the characters looked into the distant horizon reminded me of Antonioni's films (L' Avventura & L' Eclisse)




Loneliness and wanting space: Distant (2002)

Mahmut (Muzaffer Özdemir) likes his solitary lifestyle.



When his cousin Yusuf (Emin Toprak) arrives in town,

Mahmut is hospitable at first. But eventually he gets bothered because Yusuf's presence disturbs his day to day activities.

So Mahmut stays out of the house late, drifting across the beautiful city that is Istanbul.



Mahmut shares a lot with Isa from Climates. Both prefer to keep to themselves and both love to capture the simple beauty of Turkey via their camera. Maybe one day the two could meet in one of the countless cafes in Turkey and discuss their lives, or even chat a bit about the state of Turkish soccer.

---

Ratings out of 10

Distant (2002, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan): 9.5

Climates (2006, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan): 9

Euro 2008 Film Festival: Group A, Turkey

Film Festival Rules & Guidelines
Film selected (Year, Director): Harem suaré (1999, Ferzan Ozpetek)
Rating: 7/10
Rules compliance: I have seen a previous film by Ferzan Ozpetek, so the selection is not compliant with picking something from a new director.
Relevance to Soccer: Collecting and hoarding people

Through most of the 1980's, European soccer clubs had a foreign player quota and could only feature two players from an international nation. In the late 80's, that rule was loosened slightly and teams could field upto 3 foreign players. AC Milan led the way by fielding the three Dutchmen (Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard) who led them to domestic and European glory. Then in the early 1990's, the rules were changed once again and any European team could have upto 6 foreign players on their books but could only play 3 for a given game (that included the starting 11 players + 5 substitutes). Once again, Milan signed a bunch of talented players such as Boban, Dejan Savićević, Marcel Desailly and Jean Pierre Papin (at that time he was one of Europe's leading goal scorers) . Since Milan could only play 3 of their superstars, the remaining 3 sat in the stands unused. Other teams complained that Milan were hoarding the best players in the world and preventing them from displaying their talents week in and week out.

By the mid 1990's, European soccer changed once again in that teams could sign as many players from within the European Union nations without any quotas(thanks to the Bosman court ruling). The only quota applied to players from outside Europe. As a result, teams from most European leagues started buying the best young talent other European nations. And when the European Cup was modified into the Champions League, the top European teams were playing atleast 2 games a week (one league game on the weekend and a European game in mid-week). These extra games required these teams to buy atleast 2 quality players for each position. Teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan started attracting some of the biggest names in the game, only for half of their star players to sit on the bench, waiting for their chance. As it stands in the current game, the top teams from England, Spain, France, Italy and Germany have a galaxy of star players, most of whom only get a game when the regular first team players are injured or suspended. But given that these teams play more than 50 games a season, they need to have a big squad, because injuries could hamper the first team. However, there are plenty of other teams which could benefit from just a few of these star players. Sometimes, the big teams loan out their players to other teams so that they can get regular match practice. But in most cases, the talented players keep waiting for their chance.

One of the definitions of a harem is when a king has multiple wives or lovers. However, the king won't require all the women at any given time. When the king gets tired of his regular lover, he picks another younger woman, until he gets tired of her. Still, the king maintains a collection of women around just in case.


The Turkish film Harem suaré is about such a situation where the Sultan maintains a harem of women. However, only a few lucky women get the honor of becoming the Sultan's regular lover or even spending a night with him. Naturally, the competition among the women is fierce to get into the Sultan's chambers. I found this situation similar to modern soccer teams where multiple talented players are eager to make the first team. Most of these young players train every day, hoping to one day impress the first team boss. Some players only get one chance but fail to impress and find themselves shut out of the club. In Harem suaré, we meet a young woman Safiye (Marie Gillain) who has been patiently waiting her turn to become the Sultan's chosen one. However, as chance would have it, a younger woman arrives threatening her position. Safiye's situation is made difficult due to the changing political climate in the Ottoman Empire, as a young Turkish revolution threatens to break the Sultan's hold on power.


So what can all the young women do while waiting for the Sultan to notice them? Some of them take on side lovers, like Safiye. This is akin to soccer players getting loaned out to other teams, who can appreciate their talents. And as it often happens in soccer, the loaned out player finds himself much happier in his new team and prefers to leave the top European team because he can get a regular game at this new team. Safiye also finds more happiness in the arms of another man, as opposed to waiting for the Sultan to make up his mind.

Final shots:

Harem suaré is structured in terms of two flashback stories. In the inner story when the narrator finishes her tale, she mentions that as per the rules of story telling & God's instructions, one should distribute three apples upon the story's conclusion -- one for the narrator, one for the listener and the final apple for the heroes of the story.

In the film's final shots, the camera zooms in on a table where the narrator and listener sat at the film's start for the principle flashback tale. Both of them have left the table but only 3 apples are left to signify the rules of the story telling. As the camera gets closer to this beautiful shot of the apples, I realized that this final shot of the film is also the final shot of my 16 film Euro 2008 Film Festival.




I can't think of a more beautiful way for this film and also for my film festival to end. The stories have been told. Everyone has gone. Cinematic food for thought! Fade to Black!!!!

Spotlight on Turkey

pics from Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul

Turkey has always fascinated me ever since I first learned of the nation via history books -- Constantinople was always an interesting city given its geographical location as being a link city between Europe and Asia. And it is nice to see that present day Istanbul still occupies a measure of that charm. But Turkey is more than just Istanbul. Even though looking at Turkish soccer and cinema, one can be forgiven for not looking beyond Istanbul as the league soccer is dominated by the three teams from Turkey's largest city (Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe & Beşiktaş) and most movies shot in Turkey feature the required shots of the gorgeous Bosphorus river and the impressive Hagi Sophia. I can't any remember any features shot exclusively in Turkey's capital, Ankara.

In political terms, Istanbul may be responsible for all future decisions but it is events in the country-side and other Turkish cities that may force a change. Orhan Pamuk's engaging book, Snow, may be a work of fiction but recent political events have mimicked the novel's tale and show that what happens outside of Istanbul can't be discounted if Turkey is to move ahead.

In that regards, my idea to feature a spotlight on Turkey was to find topics/themes that looked at life both inside and outside of Istanbul.

Migrations:

One moves to a big city in the hopes of a better future. As it happens often, such a change is difficult to navigate -- the big city is not very welcoming and offers very little in terms of housing and jobs. A person can struggle to find their feet.

Such is the case of Yusuf in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's poetic 2002 film Distant. He comes to Istanbul in search of a job and stays with his cousin, Mahmut. But Yusuf struggles to find a job, although he is not very enthusiastic about trying to find work anyhow. The movie touches upon the topic of loneliness as that is what a big city can induce in a person.



Both Mahmut and Yusuf can't communicate their feelings. In fact, Mahmut goes to great lengths to hide his real interests and alienate Yusuf. There are some amazingly realistic scenes where Mahmut wants Yusuf to leave the room so that he can watch tv in peace.

And this gorgeous film features the only cinematic shots I have seen of Istanbul covered in snow.


---------------------------
In Yesim Ustaoglu's 1999 feature Journey to the Sun Mehmet also heads to the city in order to find work.



But over there, he is mistaken as a terrorist and put in jail. When he is released from jail, he finds himself a marked man and can't resume his normal life. He returns home to find a giant "X" on the door. His room-mates urge him to leave as they don't want to stay with such a person.


Even when Mehmet heads to a motel with his girlfriend, the symbol follows him.


***Spoiler notes:*** Tired of the big city, Mehmet heads out to the country-side to his only real friend's (Berzan) house. But Berzan is a kurd and political events lead to his death. In order to fulfill Berzan's last wishes, Mehmet takes Berzan's body back to his home village of Zorduc. But Mehmet is shocked to find the village flooded (aside: these images of a flooded village reminded me of Jia Zhang Ke's Still Life).



The political mark:

The topic of the Kurdish issue make this a relevant movie given current events in Turkey. The movie shows how Kurds are treated as second class citizens and have to live a marked life. One of the film's most striking sequence is when Mehmet is getting closer to the Kurdish region of Turkey. He comes across villages in ruins but his eyes can't miss the red "X" sign on the shattered walls. So it does not matter if it is a village or a city, the sign of the outsider can't let a person live in peace.



Hamams:

Hamams form a well known Turkish symbol and a thing to do during a visit. Ferzan Ozpetek's 1997 feature Hamam centers around the charm and exotic pull that a traditional Hamam holds for Francesco, an Italian man of Turkish origin. Francesco only returns back to Istanbul to sell his dead aunt's assets and properties, one of which was a shut down Hamam. But Francesco finds love & peace amid the Hamam and the Turkish air starts to breathe new life into him.

Music:

Music plays an important part of any culture's identity. Turkey has always had a rich musical background thanks to its location between Asia and Europe. Fatih Akin's well made documentary Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul shows the modern sounds that echo throughout Istanbul from classical music to Turkish rap, hip-hop and fusion music. Even though the music in Istanbul is a central focus, the documentary reaches out to give a glimpse of the music that resonates throughout the nation. And the film also gives an insight into how the struggles that Kurdish culture had in trying to keep their music alive.

Everyday life:

Reha Erdem's calm and peaceful film Times and Winds showcases the everyday life in a small Turkish village. Life in the village is shown through the passage of the changing seasons and through the different time shifts in a day such as morning, afternoon and evening.

Old traditions:

As Turkey moves towards modernity, conflict will arise because of old traditions. Abdullah Oguz's emotional film Bliss showcases the struggle a military man has to go through to acknowledge his love for a village woman against tradition and his father's wishes. The movie also features the memorable lines "Every Turk is born a soldier" and shows the military side of Turkish life.

A magical romantic tale:

One can find the seeds of Edge of Heaven in Fatih Akin's 2000 film In July. Like Edge of Heaven, In July starts in Germany and ends in Turkey and features overlapping romantic tales. While Edge of Heaven had a serious tone to the film, In July is a magical romantic story. All the coincidences in the script can be forgiven if one buys into the film's portrayal of emotional victory of love winning over any rational explanations. The story feels a bit like Paulo Coelho's amazing journey tale The Alchemist. In July also features the romantic appeal that Turkey has to outsiders.

Overall ratings:

Distant (2002, Nuri Bilge Ceylan): Rating 9.5/10

Bliss (2007, Greece/Turkey, Abdullah Oguz): Rating 9.5/10

Times and Winds (2006, Reha Erdem): Rating 9/10

Journey to the Sun (1999, Yesim Ustaoglu): Rating 8.5/10

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2005, Fatih Akin): Rating 8.5/10

In July (2000, Fatih Akin): Rating 8/10

Hamam (1997, Ferzan Ozpetek): Rating 7.5/10
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