Film: Uzak
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Country: Turkey
Released: December 2002
Runtime: 110 minutes
Genre: Slow Cinema
Studio: NBC Film
Influenced: Cristian Mungiu, Lav Diaz, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Elia Suleiman, Asghar Farhadi
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan came from an engineering background, but it was his interest in photography that played a crucial role in his artistic development. His education is reflected in his cinematography, which combines the precision of an engineer with the meticulous eye for composition of a photographer. Before making feature films, Ceylan began with short movies, gaining recognition for works such as Koza (Cocoon) in 1995. His debut feature film, Kasaba (The Small Town), was released in 1997, but it was his follow-up Mayıs Sıkıntısı (Clouds of May, 1999) that first gained international acclaim. Uzak (Distant), released in 2002, is the second film in Ceylan's "Yusuf Trilogy", which begins with Kasaba and ends with İklimler (Climates, 2006). All three films engage in a contemplative exploration of life, reflecting on the human condition and the complexities of existence, with a focus on themes such as alienation and loneliness. Ceylan's films are characterised by slow pacing, long takes and a focus on visual storytelling, revealing a heavy debt to the master of slow cinema, Andrei Tarkovsky.
Uzak follows the lives of two main characters, Mahmut (Muzaffer Özdemir) and Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak), who are distant relatives. Mahmut is a middle-aged photographer living a solitary and routine life in Istanbul. His world is disrupted when Yusuf, a young and unemployed relative from a rural village, comes to stay with him while searching for a job. Their first conversation in Mahmut's apartment gives a sense of the economic depression affecting Turkey at the time the film was made. We also get a sense of Mahmut’s world weariness – he says that all places look the same after a while – and how Yusuf is clearly lonely and looking for love. In another scene, around a table with friends, Mahmut discusses how he once wanted to make films like Tarkovsky. Later, we see Mahmut and Yusuf watching Stalker on TV; however, once Yusuf goes to bed, Mahmut swaps Stalker for porn.
The film unfolds as a study of Mahmut and Yusuf's strained relationship, highlighting the cultural and generational gaps between them. We get a strong sense of Mahmut’s growing impatience with Yusuf, especially his failed attempts to find work and move out. Ceylan, who also co-wrote the screenplay, drew inspiration from his own experiences and observations of human relationships, and there are autobiographical elements in the film like the poster for the director’s own short film Koza on Mahmut’s wall. Mahmut's profession as a photographer is also woven into the narrative, serving as a metaphor for capturing fleeting moments and the passage of time. The film is punctuated by silent and contemplative moments, such as Mahmut observing the cityscape from his window, Yusuf exploring the unfamiliar urban environment or both of them staring out over the Bosphorus, contributing to the film's meditative tone. Ceylan also employs moments of Tarkovsky-inspired surrealism, including a dream scene in which Mahmut is staring at a static TV followed by a lampshade falling in slow motion.
Uzak gained widespread critical acclaim and was the first Turkish film to win the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003. Muzaffer Özdemir and Mehmet Emin Toprak also jointly won the Best Actor award at Cannes, but sadly Özdemir died shortly before the film's release, in a car accident in September 2002, adding further to the melancholy tone of Uzak. Both lead actors were praised for their naturalism and subtlety, adding to the film's almost neorealist style. It's remarkable how Ceylan made low budget films like Uzak look so good, and for me no director has managed to capture the beauty of falling snow like him. Ceylan's work has continued to garner acclaim globally, with subsequent films like Three Monkeys (2008), Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) and Winter Sleep (2014), the latter also winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The director has talked about his continual search for the "golden point" in each frame and how much he loves the editing process, and this careful attention to detail – along with slow pacing and a melancholy tone – is a hallmark of his movies.
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