MovieChat Forums > Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da (2011) Discussion > 2 1/2 hours of grass and cars driving sl...

2 1/2 hours of grass and cars driving slowly.

posted 9 years ago by dustypistol
3 replies | jump to latest

Between getting a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and a very good rating on IMDB, I thought that whether I liked or disliked it, it would at least be worth watching... I can deal with slow, I can deal with a director making something only he would enjoy, I can deal with art-house and pretentious and slow. This film lies in an (admittedly very well-photographed) land beyond all of these.

Two words can describe this movie: "Pretty" and "Yawn", and the first is NOT EVEN CLOSE to being enough of a reason to put up with the second for 2 1/2 hours. The biggest thing that happens in the movie is that they find the dead body like two hours into the film, everything leading up to that is them looking for the body and driving through the stunning scenery (the movie's one redeeming feature IMO) in near-darkness saying incredibly mundane things and then long periods of silence. The drives take place in almost real-time. Literally like being in a car for hours with a few boring people who don't say much. There's not even much body language or expressions to go off of.

A few snapshots of the scenery would do. There's no need for two and a half hours of, literally, "........ found it." Yep, we know before pressing play that they're looking for a body -- that's the plot of the film. So "found it" is all that happens, with some "blah blah blah what do you think about death" in between. Then there's another slooooooow, real-time-ish scene in which they talk about the crime scene. Yep, it's a body all right! The only part I found funny was after talking about how "inhuman... wholly inhuman" it was for the criminals to hogtie the dead man, they discuss hogtying him back up so they can fit him in the cramped car, LOL.

The conversation in the movie is dull and the fact of it being often morbid and once in a while having some sort of thought involved does not make the movie watchable. I stayed awake until after everyone I was watching with fell asleep because I wanted to see if it went anywhere or made any point at all. Negative.

All in all, seeing this movie was not just the absence of, but the exact opposite of doing anything interesting.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand here come the fans of the movie to tell me why it's great. I'm very interested to hear what you have to say... :)

[–] marqik 9 years ago

I have to agree on all points.

[–] Filler_Killer 9 years ago

I think it's fair to say that perhaps you expected something else, given the movie's rating, which didn't correspond to reality?

From your post, I get the impression as well that you expected the dialogue to be somewhat different to what actually was spoken throughout? You seem to have wanted the dialogue to be focused on the plot, but how could that be if the intention was to create dialogue that could surpass the realm of the film story and become universal?

In my opinion, not all films have to be plot centric and in fact, I personally think that that quickly turns into a handicap on most films. What Ceylan achieved in here, was a great balance on the words spoken, concerning the main event theme, and the characters' common lives. Mundane and vulgar for most of the time, but occasionally solemn and extremely profound. The dynamic of the dialogue is one of the highlights of the film for me, as it gave me also something that is missing on most films nowadays, humanity. Also, this style is very much akin to the short-story Russian master Anton Tchekhov, one of my favourites, which I admit, might not be the cup of tea for everyone, but Time has placed Tchekhov in the pantheon of great writers of mankind, which says much about his quality and I honestly still have to hear someone saying they've read Tchekhov and haven't enjoyed it. Try thinking for a few minutes on the words spoken by the doctor (Tchekhov was a physician as well curiously), for example on the sequences where himself and the driver seem to be communicating telepathically or when he's talking with the prosecutor in his office, later on. Take notice on the subtle vibes that reverberate from the caracters' discourses and body language, from the possible murder by the brother to the wife of the prosecutor being the actual woman who put an end to her life, not forgetting the meaning of the doctor ignoring the dirt on the dead man's lungs.

You say, not by these specific words, that there was nothing interesting in it. I disagree, for the reasons mentioned above and I would also add the fact that it is a feast for the eyes, as you rightfully indicated as well, plus the acting which was quite solid. It may not be a perfect film, the rhythm is quite slow and on the last third it slows down to snail pace, but it sure is a damn fine piece of film-making and the jury in Cannes acknowledged that as well.

PS: Can I ask you what other "art-house, pretentious and slow films" you've dealt with?

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-You won't forget me now?

-No. I've got nobody else to remember.

[–] Ocean_star 9 years ago

I could not agree MORE with your review.
I've sat through a lot of slow, pointless films but this was brutal.
Perhaps I'm getting too old and running out of patience lol