montejon

Curved street in winter, Istanbul, 2004

Baker boy in Urfa, 2004

Sardes, 2003

The film depicts the relationship of a man and his long-time girlfriend, their gradual estrangement, and their subsequent efforts to find reconciliation. In the process both characters are "dragged through the ever-changing climate of their inner selves in pursuit of a happiness that no longer belongs to them" (in the words of Ceylan). The climates are just as physical as visceral - as expected the photography is the main feature of the film. It's full of stunning wide angle landscapes, interesting close-ups and beautiful use of focus. The camera is static in most scenes, providing carefully arranged images full of depth and colour, that act as mini stage sets.

Moving inside these images, the characters play out their lives. The stunning photography could have risked overpowering the human element, but in fact it enhanced it, becoming an integral part in the storytelling like a kind of silent narrator. Words are kept to a minimum and Ceylan uses long, lingering takes to evoke depths of emotion from the actors and impress them on the viewer. Music is also minimal. Following the lead of films like Celine and Julie Go Boating, the soundtrack is purely natural - right down to a fly, an extinguished cigarette and even snowflakes. It was completely entrancing. Each sound is important in its own right, implying in a few seconds many paragraphs of plot. This intensity draws you deeper into the world on screen and the characters start to take on added complexity. Neither the man nor the woman is quite sure of their desires, instead letting instinct take control with all the irrationality that love brings. Whether or not their instincts converge is explored in a series of moving and suspenseful encounters between the two.

The film ends on a final, heart-rending image...with the sounds, it offers both a direct connection and contrast to an earlier scene. Is their relationship resolved? I won't say... ;-)