Daily Movie Rec 6/29/2023

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)

"It's the kids who suffer in the end, Doctor. Everyone pays for the things they do. But kids pay for the sins of adults."

Directed by: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Cinematography by: Gökhan Tiryaki

Country: Turkey/Bosnia and Herzegovina

Genre: Crime/Drama

Plot:

A handful of cops, two military officers, two gravediggers, a doctor, a prosecutor, and two suspects bumble through the Turkish countryside searching for the site of a hidden body.

Reasons to watch:

Ceylan displays a lovely blend of naturalism and poetry that constantly flirts with metaphysics without fully delving into it the way similar styles of slow cinema filmmakers would. As a result, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia maintains an air of mystery - of something greater and more spiritual at play - without ever alluding to it in a more obvious way than quiet, fleeting moments of reflection, like an extended shot of an apple peacefully lolling down a small stream or the sound of wind blowing through a field.

Part of the allure and mystique of the film also comes from Gökhan Tiryaki's remarkably artful cinematography. Whether he's shooting sweeping, deep-space landscapes or intimate close-ups of faces, each frame looks like an acutely detailed painting. It isn't all formalist arthouse woolgathering though; there are understated yet steady tides of comedy in the film that make the characters and their interactions genuinely enjoyable to watch, and an anecdote about a woman who predicted her own death provides some poignant emotional depth to it all. In short: a masterwork.

Where to watch:

Mubi/Kanopy