ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA

ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA, 2011
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Turkey, 35 mm, Color, 150’, Turkish with English subtitles

“In his film Ceylan often uses tired, weary faces reminiscent of the close shots in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. Through these faces he infiltrates into the very soul of the small-town environment. And in the long shots showing three old cars and men searching for a dead body on the Anatolian steppe he reflects the melancholy of his ‘lonely and beautiful country’.” – Mehmet Açar

In the film, which won the Grand Prix at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, Nuri Bilge Ceylan tells the story of 12 tense hours spent by a prosecutor conducting a murder investigation with a doctor. Once more Ceylan draws a portrait of Turkey against the backdrop of Anatolian small towns, endless narrow roads, and the steppes. The film fascinates its viewers as much with its subject and actors as with its cinematography.