Turkish TV director Asli Özge ("Ein bisschen April") teams-up with award winning cinematographer Emre Erkmen ("2 Girls") for this curious slice of social commentary the blurs the lines between fiction and documentary and has picked up top awards at the Istanbul, Altın Koza and Ankara international film festivals.
Street-side flower seller Fikret (Fikret Portakal), dolmuş driver Umut (Umut İlker) and traffic policeman Murat (Murat Tokgöz) are young men from the grim suburbs who find their lives and dreams centred on the Bosporus Bridge at the heart of Istanbul in a microcosm of Turkish life in the 21st century.
The trio of non-professional performers are dominated by the brilliant Fikret Portakal, who subtly portrays himself, with fine support coming from a much put-upon Umut İlker, also as himself, and an agonisingly awkward Murat Tokgöz, superbly sending up his own brother (who as a professional policeman was not allowed to appear in the film).
The director has created a curious hybrid which looks like a full-blown feature, thanks to some sumptuous camera work from Emre Erkmen, but plays out more like a documentary with no real narrative drive, leaving outsiders like myself somewhat alienated by this intimate examination of the modern Turkish condition.
"I want all the things you want."
Street-side flower seller Fikret (Fikret Portakal), dolmuş driver Umut (Umut İlker) and traffic policeman Murat (Murat Tokgöz) are young men from the grim suburbs who find their lives and dreams centred on the Bosporus Bridge at the heart of Istanbul in a microcosm of Turkish life in the 21st century.
The trio of non-professional performers are dominated by the brilliant Fikret Portakal, who subtly portrays himself, with fine support coming from a much put-upon Umut İlker, also as himself, and an agonisingly awkward Murat Tokgöz, superbly sending up his own brother (who as a professional policeman was not allowed to appear in the film).
The director has created a curious hybrid which looks like a full-blown feature, thanks to some sumptuous camera work from Emre Erkmen, but plays out more like a documentary with no real narrative drive, leaving outsiders like myself somewhat alienated by this intimate examination of the modern Turkish condition.
"I want all the things you want."
