Facing Windows
by Ferzan Ozpetek
from Sony Pictures
The beautiful and wonderfully named Giovanna Mezzogiorno joins the list of soulful Italian actresses with Facing Windows, a pleasant cinematic fancy. Her character is a married Mom in an ordinary apartment, whose life is affected by two things: her fascination with the handsome man who lives across the courtyard, and the sudden arrival in her home of an elderly amnesiac (played by the late Massimo Girotti)--a well-dressed man found walking on the street, dazed and lost. Turkish-born director Ferzan Ozpetek (Steam: The Turkish Bath) makes this simultaneously a slice of life and a vaguely fantastical situation. It probably all works out a little too neatly, but the unhurried pace and deep sympathy Ozpetek displays toward his main characters is refreshing. And when in doubt, he points the camera at the face of La Mezzogiorno, which solves all problems. --Robert Horton
A young working-class wife and mother unlocks a freedom within her heart that she never expected. Don't miss this critically-acclaimed, award-winning romance.
Steam: The Turkish Bath
by Ferzan Ozpetek
from Strand Releasing
Distant
by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
from New Yorker Video
The highly acclaimed, award-winning Turkish film Distant is a deeply compassionate and frequently amusing study of quiet desperation, prompting many critics to favorably compare writer-director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's subtly hypnotic drama to the films of Ozu and Tarkovsky. Watch closely and you'll recognize someone you know, or even yourself, and the quietest moments are the most enjoyably revealing. Muzaffer Ă–zdemir and Mehmet Emin Toprak shared Best Actor honors at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for their perfectly nuanced performances as (respectively) divorced, 40-something photographer Mahmut and his distant relative Yusef, who arrives in Istanbul looking for work, and quickly wears out his welcome. Tensions mount, revealing solitude as the natural (if not preferred) state of these lonely, melancholy men. (In the context of this film, it's tragically ironic that Toprak was killed in an auto accident, at age 28, six months before his honors at Cannes.) With understated humor, Ceylan observes Mahmut and Yusef's chronic isolation, but he never passes judgment. Distant could've been made anywhere and it would yield the same visually seductive study of detachment. Tune into its wavelength and you'll find it unforgettable. --Jeff Shannon
Journey to the Sun
by Yesim Ustaoglu
from Facets
An unlikely friendship forms the basis of this powerful story of loyalty and courage. Mehmet, a cheerful young man from western Turkey, and Berzan, a Kurdish rebel in the underground, become fast friends while living in Istanbul. Mehmet is unjustly arrested, but the experience makes him aware of his country's political realities. When the situation heats up, and Berzan is involved, Mehmet embarks on a sweeping, spiritual journey across Turkey to his friend's Kurdish homeland. Graced with beautiful cinematography, JOURNEY TO THE SUN is writer-director Yesim Ustaoglu's remarkable second feature.
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