IKLIMLER (CLIMATES)
Turkey, 2006, 97 minutes, Colour.
Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
No love in a cold climate here. Rather, the opposite. We see the break-up of love in a warm climate, separation as the weather gets cooler and frustration in winter.
It is all looks good on the screen and even starts with a kind of Bergman brooding intensity, long takes, enigmatic expressions, an edgy meal with friends. But, most audiences will probably observe the central couple rather than empathise with them. He is self-centred with a tendency to control. She is younger, more reticent, frustrated. And they don’t get any better than that even when he promises that he will change – and immediately reminds her of an appointment time and callously throws away the address of a decent taxi driver that he promised to send a photo to. That’s how he is and, it seems, always will be.
Writer-director Nuri Bilge Ceylan must have known what he was doing as he casts himself as the selfish male (also giving himself a long, loud and flailing sex scene with a friend who serves merely as a sexual prop for him).
Maybe the characters have some depth but they don’t show it, say it, let alone explore it. Which is what this kind of film really needs to give it strength and authenticity. There are a lot of cigarettes, which means that there is more smoking than substance.
1. The impact of the film? The director’s reputation? Writing and directing? Casting himself in the lead?
2. The title, climates and seasons? The sea in summer, the warmth, the archaeological ruins? The city in the autumn? The interiors? The winter in the city, the snow, the travel to the east and the mountains? The town, the television set, the archaeological ruins? The musical score?
3. The director’s style, long takes, close-ups? The set scenes for the interaction between the couple, their break?
4. The depth of the film? The characters being self-centred, self-absorbed? Having very little to say of depth or meaning? Immaturity, clinging to each other, the desperation of the man, the refusal of the woman?
5. The summer: the archaeological ruins, the husband taking photos, concerned about his wife’s boredom, her watching, the long takes, her weeping? Driving back and his being asleep in the car? Turning off the music? Back at the hotel, lying down, his head in the drawer? Her not answering? The tension of the meal, her tantrum, the husband and his controlling? The hosts, uncomfortable? The build-up to the break-up? On the beach, her dream and her husband suffocating her? Going for the swim? His watching? The decision about breaking up? Her not being surprised?
6. The autumn, in the city, the wife’s absence? The man and his work, going to see his friend at the club, going home with her, the groping and flailing sex scene? Her participation? His next visit, not so interested in the sex?
7. The winter, his loneliness? His going to the countryside? His meeting his wife, their not having anything to say, her being busy, her life being fulfilled by her job? His going to the mountains, climbing, taking photos? The friendly taxi driver, promising the photo – and then throwing away his address? The wife coming to the room, lying down, the discussion, his controlling her, wanting to get her breakfast? His asking her to give up the job? Her dismay?
8. The finale – her working on the set, the director and the cast, the plane going overhead, his returning?
