NY Turkish Film Festival ’10: Kosmos

Those holy fools usually say the sagest things, but not this one. He might be legitimately miraculous though. He is also animalistic and frequently annoying, as the populace of one northern Turkish town learns firsthand in Reha Erdem’s Kosmos (trailer here), which screened during the 60th Berlinale and closed the 12th New York Film Festival last Sunday night.

Kosmos has no back-story. Somehow, he just happens to be in cold, snowy Kars. It is a case of right place-right time when he pulls young boy out of the freezing river and magically resuscitates him. The town folk want to make an honest citizen of him, but he is more interested in the young boy’s older sister, Neptün. While her father is appalled by the prospect, she sort of-kind of falls for his innocent wildness. While maybe not quite willing to go the full Lord of the Flies with him, she is willing to do some serious behavioral slumming. (Indeed, Kosmos’ horror movie looking poster is deceptive. That is just their snapping and snarling flirtation.)

Much like the Filipino classic Himala, word of the fool’s alleged power of healing soon gets out. Naturally though, the feeling of impending tragedy is impossible to shake. Just to keep audiences thoroughly off balance, Erdem even drops X-Filish hints late in the film. Yet, the oddest aspect of Kosmos is the title fool himself. Neither a truth-talking trickster nor a wounded innocent, he is an almost feral figure, intentionally made difficult to embrace through his high-pitched keening and compulsive restlessness.

Sermat Yeşil truly goes for broke as Kosmos, yelping and twitching like a mad man, but still expressing a weird, instinctive sensitivity. Likewise, Tükü Turan is nearly just as bold as the intriguing Neptün. However, most of the villagers represent a typical small town conformity that seems completely defensible when contrasted with Kosmos’ wild acting out, supernatural powers not withstanding.

Largely eschewing color, cinematographer Florent Herry gives the film a cold severe beauty appropriate to its frozen environment. To his credit, Erdem never compromises his vision, but the finished product feels overly conscious of it portentous symbolism and its art film status.

Kosmos features a visceral, gutsy lead performance from Yeşil, but that does not necessarily mean viewers will enjoy spending time with him. Though certainly memorable, Kosmos really is a festival film, but along with popular films like Love in Another Language, it gave patrons a good sense of the spectrum of Turkish cinema at the recently concluded 2010 NY Turkish Film Festival.

NY Turkish Film Festival: Absurdistan

Economically and geopolitically, water is more precious than oil. The men of one nameless village in a former Central Asian Soviet republic do not need to be convinced of that. When the town’s water supply runs dry, it ignites a humbling war of the sexes in Veit Helmer’s Absurdistan (trailer here), which screens as part of the Without Borders sidebar at the 2010 New York Turkish Film Festival.

Based on a reported incident in a remote Turkish village, Absurdistan is a slightly naughty fable of young love and scarcity. Though not significant enough to warrant on spot on the map, the men of the town are renowned for their mojo. At least, they are legends in their own minds. They are not particularly industrious though, so when the central water pipe runs dry, they put off repairing it, until their sons return from boarding school in the big city.

Yet, only Temelko returns, but he has good reason. He has a hot-and-heavy appointment with childhood sweetheart Aya, but it must occur during the precise star alignment proscribed by her hip grandma. Unfortunately, having tired of the men’s constant mañana-ing, the women have put their collective foot down—no water, no action. This extends to Temelko too.

Maximilian Mauff, and Krystýna Maléřová in particular, make an attractive couple as the young Temelko and Aya. The rest of the cast we probably do not need to see making whoopee on-screen again anytime soon. Though Helmer occasionally forces the cuteness, he mostly handles the film’s magical realism and flights of whimsy with deftly light touch. The gossipy tiny hamlet vibe is also nicely rendered.

Perhaps surprisingly given the “stan” of the title, religion plays little or no role in Absurdistan, but then again, this is a film all about getting some action (or being denied). Neither is their former captive nation status especially relevant to Helmer’s screen-story (co-written with Gordan Mihic, Zaza Buadze, and Ahmet Golbol). Indeed, the isolated community was desperately poor under Communism and remains so today.

Helmed by the German born Helmer, Absurdistan could be considered a film of the Turkish Diaspora. Frankly, it is the sort of foreign film that translates well for American audiences, so it is strange it never really made it to New York screens during its general American release. A pleasant little film, Absurdistan screens this coming Sunday (12/12) as the 12th New York Turkish Film Festival concludes at the SVA Theater.

NY Turkish Film Festival ’10: Love in Another Language

Zeynep is hot. Onur is deaf. When they meet, the chick flick can begin in earnest. That said, director Ilksen Basarir deserves credit for not sugar-coating their rocky relationship in Love in Another Language (trailer here), which screens this Saturday during the 12th New York Turkish Film Festival.

Onur is a wizard at web design, but he is resigned to his underemployment at the city library. Zeynep is even less satisfied with her call center work, especially considering her ex Aras is the boss of the boiler room, a de-motivator who would not be out of place in either version of the Office sitcom. When they meet at the engagement party of mutual friends, she assumes he is the strong, silent type. When she has the truth gently explained to her, they still hook up, but she bolts like lightning afterward.

However, something about the sensitive lug pulls her back and they eventual pursue a legit relationship. It is not easy though. Expecting her to disappear again at a moment’s notice, Onur is always on edge. Meanwhile, Zeynep must deal with the fallout from her attempts to unionize her workplace as well as her friends’ boorish dismissal of Onur as b.f. material. It is going to be a bumpy ride.

Language eschews easy sentiment, unflinchingly focusing on Onur’s socialization issues. Frankly, they might over do it. Not that it has played in New York, but the Taiwanese Hear Me addresses similar issues, but with a lighter touch and ridiculous cute cast (they are like human Hello Kitty characters). In contrast, Language somewhat overplays Onur’s panic attacks, to use a polite term.

Saadet Aksoy has real screen presence as Zeynep. However, the convulsive flights of Mert Firat’s Onur become increasingly problematic. Allowing Zeynep to see him so out of control seems to be embarrassingly out of character. Still, it is a well put together package. Cinematographer Hayk Kirakosyan gives it a high gloss polish and the electro-ambient score composed by Ugur Akyurek and Erdem Yoruk should appeal to its twenty-thirty demographic.

Featuring an attractive young cast, Language is unquestionably an example of popular Turkish cinema. Well intentioned melodrama, it screens this Saturday (12/11) as the New York Turkish Film Festival continues at the SVA Theater.

NY Turkish Film Fest ’10: On the Way to School

Can someone make a positive difference in the lives of others without really caring? It is a question viewers might ask when a reluctant Turkish school teacher assumes his post in a desperately poor Kurdish village. It quickly becomes apparent Emre Aydin did not bargain for the challenges facing him in Ozgür Dogan and Orhan Eskikoy’s scrupulously unfiltered documentary On the Way to School (trailer here), which screens this Saturday as part of the 12th New York Turkish Film Festival.

Presumably, Aydin became a teacher with the noblest intentions and he is certainly dutiful throughout On the Way. Arriving in the remote village he is less than thrilled to find his living quarters lack running water. Yet, like a Turkish version of Northern Exposure’s Dr. Joel Fleischman, he is committed to his post-graduation term of service, so after a bit of cajoling, he rounds up his pupils to begin the new term.

Aydin is surely correct when he tells his class they can never prosper in Turkey if they do not speak Turkish. Forsaking other subjects, he concentrates on remedial language lessons, refusing to acknowledge any Kurdish in class, not that he knows much in the first place. His immersion technique might be producing results, but whether he really forges a connection with his pupils is difficult to tell.

Arguably, class differences play as great a role in On the Way as culture clashes. Throughout the film, the implications of Turkey’s attitudes towards its Kurdish population are inescapable. Indeed, for these villagers, class and ethnicity are essentially the same. Though we see him more-or-less getting along with his neighbors, it is hard to judge how Aydin processes all the meanness of life surrounding him. Regardless, though “disadvantaged” by any standard, his students seem bright and willing to learn.

Given its unvarnished depiction of Kurdish life in Turkey, On the Way is quite a bold selection for the New York Turkish Film Festival. However, it is honest filmmaking, eschewing talking heads and manufactured sentiment in favor of fly-on-the-wall observation in the tradition of Frederick Wiseman. A challenging film, On the Way is sure to spark debate when it screens this Saturday (12/4) at the SVA Theater as part of the 2010 New York Turkish Film Festival.