Fresh fallen snow in a girl's sable hair, radiant mountains all along the horizon, flickering streetlights of a small town, ancient Roman columns, stunningly deep and beautiful artwork, ominous dark cliffs, mesmerizing photographic portraits, and ethereal colors of twilight. About Dry Grasses is worth seeing for the cinematography alone.
An art teacher in a remote mountain village, Samet, is the subject of a schoolgirl crush. Or so he believes. When Samet confiscates the love note of his pet, Sevim, a school-led investigation into favoritism ensues. How quickly the tables are turned. Sevim gives Samet a well-deserved schooling of his own.
Sevim's lesson to Samet is nowhere near the end of the film. Many times in About Dry Grasses the tables are turned like this; in lengthy back-and-forth conversations, twists in perspectives, harsh judgments walked-back, the landscape turning from deep snow to dry grass, and in the characters themselves. The film is delightfully deep (my mind is still turning). And long (over three hours). I am amazed at how the actors memorized the many, long, complex, and rapid-fire dialogues. The subjects of the talks are fascinating too (about the flicker of light beyond what is visible, following rules or not, and security forces taking people away in modern Turkey).
Even while these deep conversations are occurring and the actors are doing amazingly well, director Nuri Bilge Ceylan provides jaw-dropping backgrounds. There is a scene with the characters collecting spring water at a cliff side with spectacularly beautiful snow-covered mountains all around them. It is so beautiful I couldn't concentrate. My head is still spinning. His other films, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Winter Sleep, and The Wild Pear Tree, are like this too.
About Dry Grasses first surfaced at Cannes. I watched the North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
An art teacher in a remote mountain village, Samet, is the subject of a schoolgirl crush. Or so he believes. When Samet confiscates the love note of his pet, Sevim, a school-led investigation into favoritism ensues. How quickly the tables are turned. Sevim gives Samet a well-deserved schooling of his own.
Sevim's lesson to Samet is nowhere near the end of the film. Many times in About Dry Grasses the tables are turned like this; in lengthy back-and-forth conversations, twists in perspectives, harsh judgments walked-back, the landscape turning from deep snow to dry grass, and in the characters themselves. The film is delightfully deep (my mind is still turning). And long (over three hours). I am amazed at how the actors memorized the many, long, complex, and rapid-fire dialogues. The subjects of the talks are fascinating too (about the flicker of light beyond what is visible, following rules or not, and security forces taking people away in modern Turkey).
Even while these deep conversations are occurring and the actors are doing amazingly well, director Nuri Bilge Ceylan provides jaw-dropping backgrounds. There is a scene with the characters collecting spring water at a cliff side with spectacularly beautiful snow-covered mountains all around them. It is so beautiful I couldn't concentrate. My head is still spinning. His other films, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Winter Sleep, and The Wild Pear Tree, are like this too.
About Dry Grasses first surfaced at Cannes. I watched the North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.