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Distant
Mehmet Emin Toprak and Muzaffer
Özdemir are very affecting as country and city cousins sadly unequipped
to help each other in a time of need. Stingy on narrative strokes, generous
with behavioral truths. Nuri Bilge Ceylan writes, directs and photographs,
eloquently. 1:45 (adult situations). In Turkish, with subtitles. Cinema
Village, Manhattan, and Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington. Istanbul is one of those sensuously
gray cities that seem forever awash in rain puddles, even when the sun
is beating down. The two distant Turkish relatives who are thrown together
in "Distant," the introspective comedy-drama from director Nuri
Bilge Ceylan, get a break from the usual. The rain puddles are buried
under snow. The flurries that nip at Ceylan's
country cousin and city cousin speak pointedly to the chill that has engulfed
their lives. When Yusuf (the heartrending Mehmet Emin Toprak) abandons
his rural family to find shipyard work in Istanbul, he receives only discouragement
from employers and unemployed workers alike. In between his futile job
bids, he crashes at the luxe apartment of his cousin Mahmut (Muzaffer
Özdemir), who gives him nothing but grief. For Mahmut, a successful commercial
photographer, his provincial cousin is a nuisance and an embarrassing
reminder of his own humble beginnings. Yusuf is also under foot at a fraught
moment in his cousin's life, as Mahmut is taking stock of the artistic
sacrifices he has had to make for his career and is reluctantly trying
to find closure with an ex-wife about to leave Istanbul for a new life
in Canada. Consequently, Yusuf becomes a punching bag for the embittered
Mahmut, who responds to his guest's presence with knee-jerk insults and
false accusations. As family scenarios go, "Distant"
is recognizable to a clinical degree, whether one has walked in Yusuf's
shoes or Mahmut's. Director-writer Ceylan accentuates the communication
gap and existential malaise of his two protagonists with long, wordless
takes in which ships crawl snail- like across the screen or the men anesthetize
themselves in front of a TV set. The oppressiveness is barely leavened
by a running gag involving a glue mousetrap. The punch line, when it comes,
could move you to tears. While the consummately photographed
"Distant" has the distinct ring of truth, it could stand a bit
more meat on its frail narrative bones. All those languid shots of boats
and TV sets make one a bit giddy after a while. You may find yourself
yearning for a good old-fashioned car explosion or tasteless sight gag
(where is Ben Stiller when he's really needed?), anything that might thaw
the characters out from their snowy inertia.
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