This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
Temmuz is an openly gay sculptor living at a flat with his dog in Istanbul. He enjoys a carefree attitude to his work and also to his relationship to his boyfriend. This bohemian lifestyle and has a happy go lucky, carefree, eccentric nature gets him into trouble eventually leading him to be abandoned by his boyfriend via e-mail. He is given solace and affection by her wealthy mother, who is fully supportive of him, and best friend and co-worker, Beste. Temmus is constantly haunted in his dreams by a mystery man who wants his help and is asking him to come to him. At sea one day hanging with Beste, he finally sees the man of his dream in human form but without arms or legs. His name is Ihsan who is taken care of by his mother Feride. Temmuz comes up with a plan wherein he can see Ihsan everyday as a social worker so that he can solve the mystery of his dream. During one such sessions it turns out that Ihsan had also been getting dreams about Temmuz, and that the two mens' lives had to be carmically connected. Ihsan asks Temmuz to kill him because he cannot continue to live this life and he wants to ask God as to why he mad whim this way. Once Ihsan is in his life, we see how Temmuz approaches his sculptor work with renewed vigor. The destiny brings the 2 guys together and the ending is no endearing where in both men do end up making a difference in each other's life and teach a thing or two on how not to give up on life.
Wow! was my first reaction when the movie ended. I had stopped being bothered of the fact that there was nothing gay about the film. The special bonding that 2 guys share and want to be with each other as brothers and nothing more. Ihsan brings a renewed vigor in Temmuz' life and the latter in turn tries to infuse a reason into Ihsan to live. The director clearly knows how to tackle human emotions and present it to viewers. Destiny brought them together but they now have to figure out why are they destined to be together. Performance is top notch from all the actors. Sure Temmuz's mother looks like a walking advertisement of botox but even she acted quite well. Her last scene threatening Ihsan's father was simply superb. Ferida's character ws so loving and enchanting. You wanna give a hug to woman and tell her that everything will be alright. Temmuz as eccentric gay male is excellent and Ihsan is definitely very cute and charming. Their growth of characters is amazing. The music and background music need special mention. It was haunting and enchanting. The ending I felt was a little rushed but overall it was still worth it. Excellent visuals of Istanbul, that make me want to go there again even more.
Strongly recommend the film to everyone. Lovers of good cinema (7.5/10)
Comments
I love Istanbul. I'll be visiting in August again and can hardly wait :-)