via www.bostonturkishfilmfestival.org

distant (“uzak” 2002) nuri bilge ceylan

Disclaimer: I may have taken this movie with a personalized twist, and extremely biased opinion. and yes, my reviews do have some spoilers. the movie takes place in istanbul, and is in turkish, with subtitles.

I’m not sure if you can say this movie is “about anything specifically” or if everyone will interpret it differently. I have lately been discussing communal living and metropolitan city life with many friends and classmates. Recently, someone was talking about how difficult it can be to communicate even when you live so close to so many people. I agree, it isn’t similar to the small-town community (depending on the culture, I suppose). I have always thought it was very interesting how incredibly alone one can feel even when living among so many, so closely, to the point where people isolate themselves even from their closest friends, family, and neighbors. So keeping that in mind, this movie is about distance between people. The concept is well communicated, and, I’m not sure who the director of photography/cinematographer is but some scenes really stood out, beautifully shot and lots of play with narrow depth-of-field. (At one point, I think I was annoyed with to over-use of it, but still, some beautiful compositions and pacing). The capture of the winter scenery, a shot of the character walking his mother down a long dimly lit corridor, the shot of a fan blowing the main character’s hair from the back, the opening scenes, all very beautiful. netflix gave it a 3.5, and i think i agree. not a very uplifting topic, but worth watching. once again, unexpected and most scenes were pleasantly surprising.