Uzak

Uzak

DVD cover
Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Produced by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Written by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Starring

Muzaffer Özdemir

Mehmet Emin Toprak
Cinematography Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Edited by

Ayhan Ergürsel

Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Release dates
 20 July 2002
Running time
 110 minutes
Country Turkey
Language Turkish

Uzak is a 2002 Turkish film directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. It was released as Distant in North America, a literal translation of its title.

Plot

Uzak tells the story of Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak), a young factory worker who loses his job and travels to Istanbul to stay with his relative Mahmut (Muzaffer Özdemir) while looking for a job. Mahmut is a relatively wealthy and intellectual photographer, whereas Yusuf is almost illiterate, uneducated, and unsophisticated. The two do not get along well. Yusuf assumes that he will easily find work as a sailor, but there are no jobs, and he has no sense of direction or energy. Meanwhile, Mahmut, despite his wealth, is aimless too: his job, which consists of photographing tiles, is dull and inartistic, he can barely express emotions towards his ex-wife or his lover, and while he pretends to enjoy intellectual filmmakers like Andrei Tarkovsky, he switches channels to watch porn as soon as Yusuf leaves the room.

Mahmut attempts to bond with Yusuf and recapture his love of art by taking him on a drive to photograph the beautiful Turkish countryside, but the attempt is a failure on both counts. At the end of the film, Yusuf leaves without telling Mahmut, who is left to sit by the docks, watching the ships on his own.

Cast

Death of Emin Toprak

This was the last film that Emin Toprak made, as soon after the filming of Uzak was completed, he died in a car accident aged 28.

Reception

The film received highly positive reviews with an 88% approval rating from critics (7.8 average rating) at Rotten Tomatoes[1] and 84 on Metacritic.[2]

Tom Dawson of BBC describes the film as "richly contemplative and languid filmmaking" and added "Few recent films have been so accomplished in capturing the way people drift through their lives, unable to communicate their emotions and feelings."[3] David Sterritt of The Christian Science Monitor describes it as a "unassuming, acutely observant drama."[4]

Uzak won 17 awards and 2 nominations, including the Grand Prix and Prix d'interprétation masculine, shared by the two lead actors of the film at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Uzak (Distant)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  2. ↑ "Critic Reviews for Distant". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  3. ↑ Uzak (Distant) (2004). BBC
  4. ↑ David Sterritt (2004-03-12). "Movie Guide: New Releases". The Christian Science Monitor.
  5. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Uzak". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-11-07.

External links