Comments on: Winter Sleep (Kiş Uykusu, Turkey-France-Germany 2014)

By: Kevin Finseth

Kevin Finseth — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 15:21:21 +0000

I have now watched Winter Sleep three times over the past year – first on the big screen, then on an airplane crossing the Atlantic, and now in the comfort of my home. I find Ceylan’s work stands up well to such close scrutiny and may even require it. I understand, this is not for everyone. But for me his skill in getting at the interior of things is refreshing and thrilling. His interest in the confounding nature of the human condition, his ability to coax meaning from the small gestures of existence, his patience in allowing characters to reveal themselves – not to mention the visual delights that routinely appear in these films – it all adds up to something highly rewarding, and I would like to thank Mr. Ceylan for the fierce intelligence of these works.

By: keith1942

keith1942 — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 11:26:39 +0000

I was enthralled by the film, at two viewings. The Romney review in S&S describes the long scenes as ‘stagy’. I think this is not so. The conversation scenes are long, but there is a rich pattern in the mise en scene, camerawork and editing, and the sound design is rich in tonal qualities.
This was the best new release of the year for me, I thought the Cannes Jury were absolutely right. I have seen Leviathan but found it both more conventional and less complex in its meanings and metaphors.
I am sure Aydin has a social relevance – it struck me that like Ceylan’s previous film, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia that the film deals with gender relations in modern Turkish society. There is an interesting parallel between Aydin and the Prosecutor in the earlier film.