Movies
My third Ceylan is the best so far, certainly the one that showed the most promise. The first part in particular was a nice example of moody arthouse drama. The rest of the films didn't appeal to me as much, mostly because Ceylan picked the wrong lead, which introduced some less interesting dramatic developments. Bahar was by far the most fascinating character, but Ceylan decides to focus on Isa instead. It's a shame, as I didn't really care much for his issues. Ceylan makes good use of the settings, but the cinematography doesn't feel accomplished enough, and the middle part dragged on for too long.Read all
My fourth Ceylan, and I'm really starting to see a pattern here. I quite like his more introspective moments, where his film slows down and characters just wander. When narrative and conversations are added, I feel the quality takes a real dip and his films start getting tedious. The setting is quite beautiful, and the cinematography adds a level of mystery. If Ceylan had cut out most of the conversation, he could've had a pretty solid 90-minute film, but alas. I didn't really care for the characters, nor the topics brought up, and these moments really pulled me out of the film. Ceylan's just not for me, I guess.Read all
My second Ceylan. Distant is a touch better than Winter Sleep, though it's clear that Ceylan's style isn't something I can really warm up to. I don't really mind the quieter parts, nor the lack of narrative, the dreary conversations and the lack of visual panache on the other hand are killing it for me. The performances are decent and the scenes with characters just strolling around are nice enough, but the drama didn't really hit me and there were too much throwaway moments in between. Minimalist films tend to be a bit hit-and-miss for me and Ceylan's work just doesn't appear to be polished or moving enough to wow me.Read all
