Climates (2006)

An academician, Isa, and his girlfriend, Bahar, are on vacation. Both are bored with each other. Ultimately Isa tells Bahar he wants to split up--which they do. Bahar goes off to make films while Isa becomes MORE depressed after she leaves.Imagine you are watching an Ingmar Bergman film where you have a depressed and vaguely dissatisfied couple. Then, you turn the film to half speed and make all this boredom and sadness seem to go even slower and last a whole lot longer. This is what I think of "Climates"--an incredibly plodding film from Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. What makes this a tiny bit interesting is that Nuri stars in the film as does his wife, Bahar. Otherwise, I found very little to like about the film. Technically, I suppose it's well made but the story is paper-thin and unsatisfying...which, I understand, it THE point of the film but I just didn't care.

Turkish photographer and director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's fourth feature film which he wrote, co-produced with Zeynep Ozbatur Atakan, Fabienne Vonier and Cemal Noyan and co-edited with Ayhan Ergürsel, was shot on locations in Turkey and is a Turkey-France co-production which was screened In competition at the 59th Cannes International Film Festival in 2006. It tells the story abort Isa, a middle-aged university instructor and his younger girlfriend Bahar, who is an art director. During a stay in Kas, Turkey it becomes evident to the both of them that their relationship is not what it once was and they decide to go their separate ways, but after returning to Istanbul, Isa begins to reconsider their decision.Distinctly and acutely directed by Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, this quietly paced and serene fictional tale which is narrated mostly from the protagonist's point of view, draws an afflicting portrayal of a fragmented relationship between a man and a woman which evolves during three seasons. While notable for it's naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, prominent cinematography by Turkish cinematographer Gökhan Tiryaki, sparse dialog and use of sound, this character-driven and reflective low-budget film depicts two condensed and converging studies of character.This nuanced, universal and internal drama about the distance, the complexities, the emotional intimacy and the loveliness within interpersonal relations, is impelled and reinforced by it's subtle character development, cogent narrative structure and the authentic acting performances by director Nuri Bilge Ceylan in his debut feature film role, his wife Ebru Ceylan and Turkish actress Nazan Kirilmis. A involving, humane and existentialistic road-movie which gained, among numerous other awards, the FIPRESCI Prize at the 59th Cannes International Film Festival in 2006.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's relationship dramas are loved by the critics, who can see all that pure unadulterated misery in all its perfectly shot scrutiny. They can revel in its rawness and honesty.For the rest of us, who've got our own problems to think about and contend with, having someone's else's graphically thrust upon us for near two hours is just a bit much. I'd bought his previous 'Uzak' on DVD, believing it to be the best film of the year. It wasn't - and isn't.I watched 'Climates' on late night TV because I should, because critics and those that "get" Ceylan tell us we should. And just to prove my preconceived idea that I won't like it, wrong. I'm finding the characters no more agreeable - one asks if such dissatisfied people actually deserve loving partners the way they behave.It's not all total misery, of course. There are bits that should be applauded. As others have said, the cinematography, for instance. The beach scene at the beginning with its selective focus is superbly done (I'm a photographer myself, so can appreciate).Whilst it would be against his style and selfish of me to expect Ceylan to jolly up his films - there is almost no incidental music, for instance - I'm sure a few would wish he did. That he won't and I wouldn't expect him to, I could simply just not watch his films. But, there is always that nagging feeling that I'm missing out if I don't.

Character study of a man at the end of a relationship - Quite simply, if the director's previous movie 'Uzak' (Distant) got under your skin, this one will too. So much so that the movies seem almost complementary. Both movies, about a photographer based in Istanbul, are about distance, about how much we keep to ourselves and how much we (can) share with others. In a dramatically low-key and visually inspired way, they address a great theme: the tension between the public and private, particularly in contemporary urban life. Like the movies of Antonioni or Ozu, shots are very carefully composed. Like the movies of Louis Malle there is considerable humanity at the heart of it all. Whereas 'Uzak' pointed up its main character's foibles and limitations in relation to his putting up a guest in his apartment who is looking for work in the city, 'Climates' addresses similar issues in the break-up (or breakdown) of a relationship. In either movie you will see truths about relationships and the way people live today.