A number of films address the concept of doppelgangers or doubles, but few do it this well. Ercan Kesal and Maryam Zaree perform an amazing dance, each offering up very believable dualities of self even while they illustrate how we all touch lives with others through a careful presentation of someone we wish we could be.
The film begins with the portrait of an emptied (rather than empty)and lonely man who seizes the opportunity to change - first, he changes his circumstances, and then he changes, on a literal level, who he is. Accompanying him on his metamorphosis is an equally unfulfilled woman.
This is, however, not a straightforward love story, and all does not end well or happily. What do we want, if not a happily ever after ending for our own stories? Sometimes, all we want is to find a skin that fits us better than the one we are wearing right now.
I found this film intensely moving and poetic. At times, it seemed to carry with it some great unspoken human truth - in particular,the first prison cell scene was, for me, as insightful as, say, the Ferris Wheel scene in The Third Man. The director, Tayfun Pirselimoglu, is also an author, screenwriter and painter. I hope that, with all this going on, he does not drift away from the cinema, because he makes very good films.
6.5Plot summary
Nihat, an introverted employee in a hospital cafeteria, is confused by Ayse, a mysterious woman who just started working there as a dishwasher. Reluctantly, Nihat accepts Ayse's invitation to dinner at her house. This is the beginning of a strange and dangerous liaison. When Nihat discovers a picture of the woman's imprisoned husband and realizes that he looks almost exactly like him, the relation becomes even more toxic.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Movie Reviews
Exceptional examination of identity
Interesting plot, worked out proficiently in the first half. That plot dies halfway, however, and thus missed several potentially interesting developments
I saw this film at the Rotterdam film festival (IFFR) 2014. In a nutshell: too many statistically impossible coincidences, and too slow developments overall. The plot is interesting, and is worked out proficiently in the first half, where the pace is bearable while there is some steady progress all along.
In the second half, I felt that there were too many coincidences, most of them unnecessary and also not used as effectively as could have been. To avoid spoilers, I refrain from providing examples. Nevertheless, not boring overall, and several unexpected events make it a moderately good watch. Everyone's personal motives, why they do what they do, are not evident and certainly not compelling, so I don't think this film qualifies as a drama. The main character does not grow in his role that has befallen him, and thus missed many potential dramatic avenues that could have made this film much more interesting.