Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan has earned critical comparisons to Andrei Tarkovsky and Yasujiro Ozu on the strength of this bleakly beautiful existential meditation on loneliness and ennui. Unfolding at a seductive, glacial pace, the film follows two men, an Istanbul photographer (Muzaffer Ozdemir) and his relative Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak), as they search for meaning in their intermingled lives. Ceylan's images of bleached seascapes and the crumbling industrial zones of contemporary Istanbul lend the film a cold, desperate, and extraordinary beauty. Winner of the Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival (2003) and the Grand Prix and Best Actor Awards at the Cannes Film Festival (2003). In Turkish with English subtitles.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan---Turkey---2004---105 mins.