İklimler (Climates) Review

Iklimler takes place during a brief period in the life of Isa (played by writer/director Ceylan), a professor of architecture who sports a perpetual two day growth of beard and a George Clooney coiffure while he falls out with his current girlfriend. An introduction to Isa is shown as he wanders and photographs ruined columns while on a working vacation with his girlfriend Bahar (notably played by Ceylan’s wife Ebru). She listlessly looks on - separated by a vast distance and a shallow focus - an apt metaphor for the sad detachment soon to be shown between the couple. Even more telling is that Isa awkwardly stumbles and falls while she watches. In what is perhaps the films best and most subtle scene (almost a mini-movie in itself), they snipe at each other over a dinner part with friends. His is macho and condescending. She is juvenile and melancholic. It becomes quite clear that the relationship is irreconcilable but both parties are caught up in some sort of false hope that the other party will miraculously just communicate. This leads to frustration and bitterness. İklimler follows these two from a hot beach where sweat beads up beautifully on Bahar’s breasts to colder climes where snow drifts ever so gently in the frame.

While the relationship-weather metaphor is a bit obvious, there are so many well realized character moments in the film, particularly with Isa, that the overall structure of the film is easily forgivable. One of the big set-pieces (İklimler features character set pieces in the same way blockbusters feature action set-pieces) is watching Isa seduce a former lover by first showing up randomly to her house, almost stalking her. He then inches his way closer to her via a game of throwing nuts into the air and catching them in his mouth. Eventually rough sex ensues centered around a discarded nut on the floor. How this is played out is central to Isa’s stunted emotional well-being. Like David Thewlis’ Johnny in Mike Leigh’s Naked, he is a frustrated and angry fellow who vents his frustrations (not so subtly on his immediate companions. Reveling in the resistance to his passive-aggressive behavior, he becomes bored (and possibly confused or afraid) when the result is that his target actually opens up to him. It is a human contradiction which Ceylan turns over and over during the course of the film.

The angry intimacy achieved with Ebru Ceylan makes me question what home-life was in the Ceylan household during the shooting of İklimler. It is fascinating in the way Ebru is filmed over the course of the film. In some scenes, particularly her fantasies, she is all curves and earthy-sexy, in other scenes (often immediately following) she looks plain, even dowdy.  Bahar spends much of her time looking aloof and teary-eyed, but in one significant scene she describes one of her dreams to Isa. She positively lights up and you can see why someone would fall in love with her. Because Nuri Bilge Ceylan is not only the star, but also the director (and editor), one wonders if his intention was to visually externalize how Bahar feels about herself and/or how Isa sees her.  Same as she sees Isa stumble at the beginning of the film.

The lack of score over most of the film is replaced by barking dogs and nature in a state of unrest, much like the leads psyches. It is an uneasy sound, emphasizing the space between two characters who will unlikely ever close their emotional gaps. An abortive attempt to bridge these gaps by Isa and Bahar occurs on a bus late in the film. This is set to the rhythm of a TV crew loading and unloading equipment. Behavioral truths swirl in this scene.

İklimer is a slow film (one can use the phrase ‘glacially paced’) which offers many rewards for those willing to sit, wait and watch the storm sail past overhead. I’ll be looking into Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s back catalogue of films for sure.

İklimler Trailer (Downloadable Quicktime)
İklimler (R2) is available here, and will be available via Amazon.uk on May 28, 2007.