Film Review: UZAK [DISTANT] (2002)

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Writers: Nuri Bilge Ceylan (scenario), Cemil Kavukçu (additional writing)
Running time: 110 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Drama
UK Release date: 28^th May 2004

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 21^st July 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

A shorter review this time I’m afraid as time waits for no man (this one in particular it seems). An intriguing write-up led me to this one; I have found several gems this way, particularly foreign language films. For those that have fear of the subtitle, be warned, this one is in Turkish with those dreaded words at the bottom of the screen. Here’s one of the briefest summaries I’ve written, followed by my thoughts.

When Yusuf (Emin Toprak) goes to Istanbul, he visits with Mahmut (Muzaffer Özdemir) while he looks for work. The film follows both these men as they look for both meaning and direction in their lives.

I first have to say that it is beautifully shot with some truly excellent cinematography. The sound design is quite interesting too, with sounds that would normally be pushed right to the back taking centre stage as the visuals do their work. I thought the performances of the two main characters were excellent but I felt it lacked a bit of direction. The narrative tended to drift along without really finding anything of any substance to bring it to life. Still, I felt it was a worthy effort and worth a look.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 6.7/10.

IMDb Score: 7.4/10 (based on 8,462 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346094/

MetaScore: 84/100: (Based on 18 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 88/100 (based on 43 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 80/100 (based on 5,189 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/distant/

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LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.nbcfilm.com/uzak/news.php?mid=1
Trailer: