Nuri Bilge Ceylan's latest clearly distinguishes him as one of the masters of contemporary cinema. Having only seen two of his previous films, I wasn't ready to acknowledge his apparent genius. Distant was a major art-house hit, winning countless awards (not least two nods at Cannes), it clearly placed him on the map and the critics the world over swooned over the cold harsh relationships with a wintry Istanbul backdrop. I couldn't quite understand the almost-universal acclaim - sure, it was very well done (something the Turkish cinema lacks, unfortunately) and it had superb performances. But it was interminably dire. The second film Ceylan film I watched was Three Monkeys about a politician's driver who assumes responsibility for his boss's crime and goes to prison in exchange for his family to be looked after when he was gone. It was tight, tense and terrific (yes, 3 t's). Then I got to thinking: which one of these is a fluke? I have yet to see Climates (another critical darling), but I wasn't ready to make up my mind about him.
