Told from the perspective of two children, The Small Town describes the relationship between members of an extended family in a small Turkish town. Told in four parts which unfold with the seasons, the film is a touching and bittersweet portrait of childhood and fears. Intimately observed and beautifully shot, Ceylan’s feature debut won the Caligari Prize at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.
Tag: TURKEY
Yusuf, released from prison after having served a ten-year sentence, goes to Izmir to visit his sister. Facing past family troubles and having no other place to go, he settles down in a cheap, run-down hotel. Soon, his path crosses with that of a strange family. In Yusuf’s struggle to survive, Bekir, Ugur and their daughter, Cilem, are initially a glimpse of hope, which, later on, turns into a devastating destiny.
An American journalist travels to Istanbul with his daughter to find information about the family of his son-in-law. Something terrifying seems to have happened to them. They soon find themselves in a dangerous plot including weapons smuggling.
A harsh portrait of Turkey, its people and its authorities, shown through the stories of five prisoners given a week’s home leave, and the problems they encounter in adjusting to the world outside.
As the Ottoman Empire comes to an end, an old servant spins a tale to keep the women in the Sultan’s harem distracted. The story is about Safiye, who first becomes the Sultan’s favorite concubine, and later the official wife. As she gains power and influence, she engages in a tryst with Nadir, the black eunuch. When the Empire falls, the Sultan escapes to Europe, leaving all the concubines behind. Safiye fights for their rights under the new order…
In a village in eastern Turkey, tales of the economic success of Turks in Switzerland inspire Haydar to convince his wife Meryem that they must go. He sells their livestock and small plot of land in exchange for passage for two. He wants to leave their seven children in the care of the eldest and his parents; his father advises him to take one son to be educated in Europe, as economic insurance. The three set off for Istanbul, Milan, and Switzerland, stowing away on a ship. At Lake Como, they pay the rest of their money to unprincipled men who abandon them at an Alpine pass before a blizzard. Father and son are separated from Meryem. Will anyone reach the land of promise?
Steeped in macabre mystery, The Serpent’s Tale wraps a political allegory in the dark cloth of a gothic, forbidding quest. Lamia Koprulu is the last in a line of aristocratic Ottomans. Her final hope for an heir, an illegitimate son, Haldun, has died in a boating accident. When an American stranger arrives with news that her son is alive, Lamia inspires a search that leads to a scroll containing dark secrets.