Saturday 26 January 2013

Distant


 In the local library I found a DVD of Uzak, an early film I hadn't seen by probably my favourite director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Uzak means distant, and refers to the distance between origins and maturity, ideals and reality, and the emotional distance between the cheek-by-jowl inhabitants of the city. It's a spare, naturalistic film whose long pauses between words and actions are illuminated by subtle, engaging acting and achingly beautiful photography. It occurred to me that all of these are characteristics shared by British director Joanna Hogg's more recent work, Archipelago, which I also borrowed from the library. Both are films whose stories are inner ones, implied rather than acted out - a very difficult thing to do well, and Uzak does it so much better. 
 

3 comments:

Beth said...

I just love these two photographs, Jean. You've conveyed a great deal in them.

Jean said...

Glad you like these, Beth - still playihg with photos from my trip to Devon at Christmas.

Parmanu said...

Uzak is a subtle, beautiful movie, and the images of Istanbul in my head all come from this film.

And the first photograph - I love it. The presence of the cup at the window makes all the difference.