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WORTHY
LIFE LESSONS FROM A TURKISH ODD COUPLE
V.A. Musetto, New York Post, 12 March 2004
Lonely in Istanbul.
IF "Starsky & Hutch" is your idea of art, keep your distance
from "Distant," the droll new movie from maverick Turkish director
Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
If, on the other hand, you're searching for something that will remain
with you long after leaving the theater, run, don't walk, to "Distant."
It won three prizes at last year's Istanbul Film Festival and two more
at Cannes before screening to glowing reviews at the non-competitive New
York Film Festival.
Employing little dialogue and long, static takes, "Distance"
focuses on Mahmut, a melancholic Istanbul photographer who spends most
of his time plopped in front of the TV watching porn tapes, with time
out for Andrei Tarkovsky's "Stalker" (which has much in common
with "Distant").
Occasionally, a woman - she might be a prostitute, but that is never made
clear - pops into his apartment for sex.
His well-ordered life is thrown into shambles when Yusuf, a distant relative
from a remote village, comes to visit while he looks for work on the Istanbul
waterfront.
Friction ensues: Mahmut (Muzaffer Ozdemir), who can't wait for his visitor
to leave, is fastidious; Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak), who isn't budging,
is a slob.
In conventional terms, not much happens in "Distant" (a.k.a.
"Uzak").
Mahmut visits his ailing mother. Yusuf stalks a woman who lives near his
unwilling host. The height of action comes when Mahmut captures a pesky
mouse in a trap.
But "Distant" has much to say about solitude and friendship
and just plain coping with life.
Ceylan has a keen eye for small details, which make "Distant"
all the more compelling.
The acting is superb - in fact, Ozdemir and Toprak shared the best-actor
prize in Cannes, although Toprak died in a car accident shortly before
the festival.
Bilge did his own photography, and his camera beautifully records the
wondrous beauty of snowy Istanbul.
Introducing the film in that city, Ceylan, 44, said he would be happy
if "Distant" made enough money so he could make another one.
Not only has "Distant" done that, it has put Ceylan on the international
film map.
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