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Together
alone
John Mac Farlane, Hour (Canada),
20 May 2004
Turkish
director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's very own odd couple in laudable Distant
In his third
feature film, which took three prizes at Cannes last year, Turkish filmmaker
Nuri Bilge Ceylan offers a lingering, detailed portrayal of family incompatibility
and urban anomie.
Mahmut (Muzaffer Özdemir) is a brooding 40-ish photographer who spends
most of his time alone until his relative, Yusuf (Mehmit Emin Toprak),
arrives to stay with him in Istanbul while he looks for work. Yusuf is
a luckless bumpkin, sweet but for his habit of following women around
(or worse: on the train, he creepily manoeuvres his leg to touch the thigh
of the girl next to him).
Ceylan reveals the loneliness of both men, a loneliness that does nothing
to bring them closer together, and documents the gradual erosion of a
relationship that wasn't close to begin with. Mahmut mopes because his
ex-wife is about to move to Canada with her new husband. He's also a snob,
snorting with derision at Yusuf's cheap cigarettes and lack of sophistication.
Yusuf, whose job search proves immediately fruitless, is even more morose
as a result. Neither man is comfortable enough to share his problems with
the other. Both shuffle through the film with expressions of perpetual
glumness.
There isn't a complex plot or web of relationships here. Instead, Ceylan
allows the story to unfold through short interactions and the resultant
expressions of his actors, which produces powerful, uncomfortable scenes:
Mahmut's ex-wife delivers a crushing blow during a lunch meeting ("It's
not so hard when you don't have that much to leave behind," she tells
him cruelly when he asks if leaving her home is difficult); Yusuf's innocent
joy over a toy purchased for his niece drains from his face when Mahmut
shoots him a look of total disdain.
Distant isn't entirely dreary though, which, given the subject matter,
is remarkable enough. Somehow, Ceylan's unwavering focus (emphasized because
of the lack of soundtrack and Ceylan's preference for long shots) and
Özdemir and Toprak's fine performances expose something beyond the flaws
of both characters. Mahmut is pretty much a fastidious jerk and Yusuf
an inconsiderate cad, but their failings seem human. They aren't exactly
lovable, but maybe worthy of sympathy. Or empathy.
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