Kasaba (1997)
(The Small Town)
Country: TUR
Technical: bw/1.66:1 85m
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cast: Mehmet Emin Toprak, Havva Saglam, Cihat Bütün, Fatma Ceylan, Emin Ceylan
Synopsis:
Life seen through the eyes of two children in a remote town in Turkey, as they pass through the seasons. From their poverty they observe school, the funfair, and nature, while their elder brother shiftlessly longs to be elsewhere.
Review:
Ceylan's first feature is a plotless and, one senses, deeply autobiographical meditation on the cycle of life, especially for the poor. The axis of the film is a long scene around a campfire, as the grandma prepares corn and slices apples, the grandfather reminisces about his experiences during World War One fighting the British in Iraq, and the educated son spins an ancient history lesson. Meanwhile, a tortoise upturned by the wanton grandson vainly struggles, its feet in the air. Like many later Ceylan films, it is heavy on atmosphere and light on incident, but his photographer's eye is very much in evidence already.
(The Small Town)
Country: TUR
Technical: bw/1.66:1 85m
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cast: Mehmet Emin Toprak, Havva Saglam, Cihat Bütün, Fatma Ceylan, Emin Ceylan
Synopsis:
Life seen through the eyes of two children in a remote town in Turkey, as they pass through the seasons. From their poverty they observe school, the funfair, and nature, while their elder brother shiftlessly longs to be elsewhere.
Review:
Ceylan's first feature is a plotless and, one senses, deeply autobiographical meditation on the cycle of life, especially for the poor. The axis of the film is a long scene around a campfire, as the grandma prepares corn and slices apples, the grandfather reminisces about his experiences during World War One fighting the British in Iraq, and the educated son spins an ancient history lesson. Meanwhile, a tortoise upturned by the wanton grandson vainly struggles, its feet in the air. Like many later Ceylan films, it is heavy on atmosphere and light on incident, but his photographer's eye is very much in evidence already.
(The Small Town)
Country: TUR
Technical: bw/1.66:1 85m
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cast: Mehmet Emin Toprak, Havva Saglam, Cihat Bütün, Fatma Ceylan, Emin Ceylan
Synopsis:
Life seen through the eyes of two children in a remote town in Turkey, as they pass through the seasons. From their poverty they observe school, the funfair, and nature, while their elder brother shiftlessly longs to be elsewhere.
Review:
Ceylan's first feature is a plotless and, one senses, deeply autobiographical meditation on the cycle of life, especially for the poor. The axis of the film is a long scene around a campfire, as the grandma prepares corn and slices apples, the grandfather reminisces about his experiences during World War One fighting the British in Iraq, and the educated son spins an ancient history lesson. Meanwhile, a tortoise upturned by the wanton grandson vainly struggles, its feet in the air. Like many later Ceylan films, it is heavy on atmosphere and light on incident, but his photographer's eye is very much in evidence already.