Once Upon a Time in Anatolia/Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (2011) - Ceylan's long, downbeat crime drama

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A police investigation is underway in a twilight landscape on this atmospheric poster for Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

A police investigator gets called out to the steppes of Anatolia, Turkey, where an arrested man is to point out the place where he killed a local man.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is written by Ebru Ceylan, Ercan Kesal (Three Monkeys/Üç Maymun (2008), both) and great Turkish filmmaker, co-writer/director/co-editor Nuri Bilge Ceylan (The Small Town/Kasaba (1997)).

It is a long and ruminant, ceaselessly downbeat turn with a killing SPOILER that's a live burial, (which the coroner ironically buries in his report.) This doctor teaches during the course of the film the presumptuous investigator a lesson of great personal weight, and in this and other ways Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is a film especially consisting of meetings between men, of facades and power structures, and of small town politics, - more than about the murder as such.

Ceylan shows much promise here, and there are beautifully shot scenes (cinematography by Gökhan Tiryaki (The Wild Pear Tree/Ahlat Agaci (2018))), among them one of an apple's escape down into a stream, and good acting also. Nevertheless it is unclear what the story is supposed to tell us, and I suspect that Once Upon a Time in Anatolia may be more meaningful for locals/Turks than to outsiders.

 

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Nuri Bilge Ceylan: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Winter Sleep/Kış Uykusu (2014) - Ceylan's complex, novelistic drama masterpiece 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 2 mil. $

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop (projected return of 1 times its cost)

[Once Upon a Time in Anatolia premiered 21 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 157 minutes. The script was reportedly inspired by personal experiences of one of its writers. Shooting took place in Turkey. The film opened #60 to a 10k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #56 and in 6 theaters (different weeks), grossing 152k $ (7.6 % of the total gross). The film's 3 biggest markets were Turkey with 835k $ (41.8 %), where it opened #4 and spent 3 weekends in the top 5, the UK with 424k $ (21.1 %) and Italy with 399k $ (20 %). If made on a 2 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a huge flop. The film won the Grand Prix in Cannes (tied with The Kid with a Bike), was nominated for 2 European Film awards and many other honors. It was Turkey's nomination for the Oscars but was not chosen for the Best Foreign Film category. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Ceylan returned with Winter Sleep/Kis Uykusu (2014). Muhammet Uzuner (Münferit (2007)), who plays the coroner, returned in Home/Yurt (2011); Yilmaz Erdogan (Vizontele (2001)), who plays the investigator, in Rhino Season/Fasle Kargadan (2012). Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is certified fresh at 93 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Once Upon a Time in Anatolia?

Winter Sleep/Kış Uykusu (2014) - Ceylan's complex, novelistic drama masterpiece

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+ Best Turkish Movie of the Year

 

An evocative, melancholic poster for Nuri Bilge Cylan's Winter Sleep

 

Aydin is an aging hotel and land owner and a hobby writer, Aydin, who collides with a family of down-on-their-luck tenants, meanwhile his sister and wife are waging a verbal war on him during a Turkish winter.

 

Winter Sleep is a film that is more shaped as a good novel would be than films usually are. SPOILER Around an hour passes concerning a broken car window; the next more or less with the carping sister; and the last, more or less, is spent on the disdainful wife. It is therefore not a movie for everyone, because it may be demanding for some in terms of our capacity for empathy, patience as well as intellectually. But Winter Sleep has a winter's slow pace but is never dull.

The film portrays humans with superior skill, - among other things, it includes a 15 minutes-long row between the brother and sister, which has to pass over in cinema history as one of the finest sibling squabbles ever, as they lash deeper and deeper stings against the other with the awful determination of petty family insight.

There is a lot at stake here. The film tackles meaty topics such as evil, charity and the marriage institution, - and it has some fabulous, archetypal characters. But the main theme, I think, is an unusual one for cinema, namely resignation. Resignation to the facts of life and its imperfect constructs. Resignation to flaws and defeat. The tale is seen from the viewpoint of Aydin (Haluk Bilginer (Buffalo Soldiers (2001))), a matured, melancholicly disposed man, who has passed his prime and knows it, but who still has a high regard for himself, his past years on the stage and his literary talents, especially as they pertain to skewering his local surroundings - in the local newspaper.

Winter Sleep is written by great Turkish co-writer-director Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia/Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da (2011)) and his wife Ebru Ceylan (Three Monkeys/Üç Maymun (2008)). It is based on Anton Chekhov's (The Seagull/Chayka (1896)) short story The Wife and one subplot of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's (The Idiot/Idiot (1868-9)) The Brothers Karamazov/Brat'ya Karamazovy (1879-80). 

 

Related posts:

 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

 

 

 

Watch an official trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: In excess of 4.1 mil. $

= Uncertainty (likely even Steven)

[Winter Sleep premiered May 16 (Cannes) and runs 196 minutes. Filming took place with the Sony F65 camera on location in Anatolia for 2 winter months, followed by four weeks in an Istanbul studio. The film was awarded 450k € from Eurimages as a French-German-Turkish co-production. The film won the Palm d'Or in Cannes as well as the FIPRESCI (critics') prize. It seems to have grossed 165k $ in North America (4 % of the total gross) . It made 1.6 mil. $ (39 % in its native Turkey, where it was reportedly Ceylan's biggest hit to date. Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 1 mil. $ (24.4 %) and Italy with 290k $ (7.1 %). It might have broken even but it is unlikely that it has turned a profit. It was Turkey's entry for the Best Foreign Film Oscar but wasn't nominated. It has reportedly made an additional 88k $ on video sales. Winter Sleep is certified fresh at 88 % with an 8.4 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Winter Sleep?