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Three Monkeys
The moral undercurrent in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Three Monkeys -- a quietly devastating Turkish family drama about guilt, adultery and lots of Biblical thunderclaps -- is in every frame. It's about people doing wrong things, one leading to another in a terrible chain, and trying to face or at least deal with the consequences but more often trying to lie and deny their way out of them. Good luck with that.
Hatice Aslan, Yavuz Bingol in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Three Monkeys.
I was hooked from the get-go -- gripped, fascinated. I was in a fairly excited state because I knew -- I absolutely knew -- I was seeing the first major film of the festival. Three Monkeys is about focus and clarity in every sense of those terms, but it was mainly, for me, about stunning performances -- minimalist acting that never pushes and begins and ends in the eyes who are quietly hurting every step of the way.
It's a very dark and austere film that unfolds at a purposeful but meditative (which absolutely doesn't mean "slow") pace, taking its time and saying to the audience, "Don't worry, this is going somewhere...we're not jerking around so pay attention to the steps."
A 50ish politician named Servet (Ercan Kesal), fighting off sleep as he drives on a narrow country road, hits a man and kills him. Freaked, he drives off without calling anyone. The next day he convinces the quiet-mannered Eyup (Yavuz Bingol), his longtime driver who's abut the same age, to confess to the crime and do the jail term, promising to give him a lot of money in addition to paying his salary to his wife Hacer (Hatice Aslan), and son Ismail (Ahmet Rifat Sungar) while he's in stir.
Except Servet soon takes advantage of Eyup's absence of having it off with Hacer in a what-the-fuck recreational sense. (He's a politician, after all.) The plot thickens when Ismail, a morose downhead to begin with, learns of the affair and starts twitching with anger and grief and guilt, not knowing what to do or say. Then Eyup gets out of jail and immediately starts to sense the after-vibe. Then we realize that Hacer hasn't indulged with the boss out of lust or boredom or to keep him sweet but because she's obsessively in love with the creep. (Good God.) Then matters get even worse.
Every step of the way you're reading the characters, absorbing what they're feeling or looking for, guessing what they might do, feeling their vulnerability, pulling for them, wanting to see it all come out right or at least end in a way that won't result in more pain or ruination.
Ceylan and his cinematographer Gokhan Tiryaki are into filling their frames with muted but luscious browns, grays, blacks (lots of black) and faded greens. The visuals are such a bath that Three Monkeys almost deserves a standing ovation for this alone. But it's the unstinting sense of engagement with the moral cost of what's being done and lied about and covered up that matters. It's heavy material, all right, but it's not a reach to call it the stuff of classic tragedy. The script (by Ceylan, Ebru Ceylan and Ercan Kesal) is right up Will Shakespeare's alley.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
And ohhh, that thunder! Four or five times it growls and rumbles like God's angry symphony. Lightning, too, at the very end.
I think Three Monkeys is fundamentally a political film because it's telling an eternal political truth, which is that people with money and power rarely pay for their wrong-doings -- they simply arrange for someone down the food chain to take the rap. And then sometimes they fuck the rap-taker's wife for good measure.
The (mostly) static camera work and powerful quietude of Three Monkeys reminded me every so often of Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which played here last year and won the Palme D'Or.
I'm not sure if Three Monkeys is a masterpiece -- I'm still sifting it through -- but I knew all along I was watching an exceptional, very powerful, high-end thing. It's the kind of film that plays like gangbusters inside the Grand Palais but will barely be seen in commercial cinemas, and may even irritate the ADD crowd. It's not going to do much business in the States, I'm guessing -- some critics, I'm told, were saying they bored with it as they talked things through at the bottom of the steps outside the Salle Debussy -- but it looks to me like a sure contender for the Cannes Film Festival's Palme D'Or.
You absolutely have to put Hatice Aslan at the very top of the list of Best Actress winners here. I don't care what comes along between now and Friday the 23rd -- her performance is knockout stuff. Ditto Yavuz Bingol for Best Actor. I read somewhere that Ceylan, in the tradition of Robert Bresson, doesn't use professional actors; I read somewhere else that he uses friends who are actors-- just not famous ones. I'm sure someone will point out what an ignoramus I am for not knowing this stuff chapter and verse.
It's obviously early to be talking Palme D'Or winners, but when a film has the Unmistakable Right Stuff, you know it right away. Moral fortitude, razor-sharp vision and stylistic sure-footedness of this calibre are impossible to ignore.
Originally a photographer, Ceylan seems to me like the Satyajit Ray of Turkey. His hallmarks, to quote from a recent Turkish Daily News article, are "a strong minimalist shooting style, themes of alienation and" -- I didn't know this until recently -- "strong autobiographical elements." The piece adds that Ceylan's cinema "is not for those who view cinema as a form of entertainment, but for festival-followers who revere art-house filmmaking."
Except -- hello? - great art-house movies are something very close to entertainment. They take you out of yourself and into a realm that adds to your empathy and understanding of life's infinite sadness. They turn you on with their mesmerizing style and condensed capturings of instantly recognizable human folly. When films of this sort really deliver they satisfy in ways that stay with you for decades. They add meat to your bones.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 15, 2008 at 9:43 AM
comment #1
djiggs
says ...
"3 Monkeys" was my pick for winning the Palm D'Or once the Cannes competition list came out. I have not seen it, but sometimes you get a sense when a world class director is coming of age especially after hitting his last two pictures out of the park-that it is their time to be awarded at Cannes or Venice-whatever major film that they are at. It certainly seems that "3 Monkeys" fits Sean Penn's description of the type of film that the jury would bestow the Palm d"Or too.
I also think that festival wants to encourage the cinema coming out of EurAsia and Eastern European like they did last year with "4 Months, 3 Weeks, & 2 Days" from Romania.
Some other quick predictions for 2008 Cannes:
1) directing: Clint Eastwood for "The Changeling"-I think that Clint will break the Festival's reluctance to reward major Hollywood productions-but only because it is Clint and his revered status among all filmmakers.
2) Screenplay: Charlie Kaufmann for "Synedoche"
3) Best Actress or Actor or Grand Prix: either Arta Dobroshi (Actress), Jeremy Renier (Actor) or the movie that both are in the "Le Silence de Lorna" by the Dardenne brothers...The films of the Dardenne brothers have won at least one major prize at Cannes every time that they have entered--In 1999, "Rosetta" won Palm d'Or and Best Actress (Emilie Dusquene) ...in 2002 "Le Fils" won best actor (Olivier Gourmet) and 2005 they won the Palm d'Or again with "L'enfant"
Posted by djiggs
at May 15, 2008 12:48 PM
comment #2
joe
says ...
I am really looking forward to seeing this film. Keep the reviews and reactions to Cannes coming.
Posted by joe
at May 15, 2008 12:50 PM
comment #3
Karsten
says ...
I am so glad to read this review from you, Jeffrey. I'm very much into Turkish cinema, with Ceylan of course as a central figure, and I'm so happy that this one hits the mark with you.
Can - not - wait to see it.
Posted by Karsten
at May 15, 2008 1:52 PM
comment #4
Edward
says ...
Thanks for the review Jeffrey, you really make me interested to see this. You comments about thunder made me think that the train sounds are thunder-like, at least in the trailer. The train sounds were ominous at times.
Posted by Edward
at May 15, 2008 2:03 PM
comment #5
calraigh
says ...
Wow.That trailer alone has me hooked.It looks absolutely fucking beautiful albeit gut-wrenching.I really like the sound design as well.
Really looking forward to this, thanks for the write-up Jeffrey.
Posted by calraigh
at May 15, 2008 2:13 PM
comment #6
PastePotPete
says ...
This film does look very interesting.
Off topic, but I haven't seen it mentioned yet: John Phillip Law died, I know there were some fans here:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/15/obit.law.ap/index.html
Posted by PastePotPete
at May 15, 2008 2:27 PM
comment #7
BurmaShave
says ...
So we get this in what, April 2009?
Posted by BurmaShave
at May 15, 2008 2:44 PM
comment #8
Jeffrey Kunze
says ...
"So we get this in what, April 2009?"
Ha. Exactly what I was thinking.
Nice review Jeffrey.
Posted by Jeffrey Kunze
at May 15, 2008 4:22 PM
comment #9
Jeffrey Kunze
says ...
Jesus Christ that trailer was astounding! Especially the last shot of the clouds rolling in.
This has to be one of the most disturbing trailers I've seen in awhile, and it's not even a horror film, technically speaking.
Posted by Jeffrey Kunze
at May 15, 2008 4:25 PM
comment #10
actionman
says ...
Wow, that was an amazing trailer. Looks very artsy and stylish and very dark and upsetting. The train sound effects reminded me of the trailer for Little Children.
Definitely excited to see this, whenever it gets released.
A little off topic, but last night I caught up with Susanne Bier's After the Wedding, which I thought was incredible. Anyone else seen it?
Posted by actionman
at May 15, 2008 5:55 PM
comment #11
D.Z.
says ...
http://www.themoviebox.net/movies/2008/STUVWXYZ/Trumbo/trailer.php
Posted by D.Z.
at May 15, 2008 6:35 PM
comment #12
filmfan
says ...
Thanks for the review. I am very interested in this film. I saw Ceylan's two previous fiilms Distant and Climates and thought that they were terrific. I wonder when this will be released in the US.
I loved After the Wedding. It is a wonderful film.
Posted by filmfan
at May 15, 2008 6:45 PM
comment #13
Jeffrey Kunze
says ...
actionman - "A little off topic, but last night I caught up with Susanne Bier's After the Wedding, which I thought was incredible. Anyone else seen it?"
No, because I wasn't too impressed with Things We Lost In the Fire, despite the lead performances. Is After the Wedding really any better?
But the reason question is has anyone seen "Running On Empty" or "Angel Heart" recently? I have, both for the first time, and I just gotta say goddamn. Rarely do I see two films back to back that completely blow me out of the water like these have.
"Running on Empty" is simply Sidney Lumet at an all-time high. The whole cast is great, but Phoenix sears the screen and I don't understand how he received a Supporting Actor Oscar nom instead of a Best Actor nom. And I can't believe Lumet is in the process of writing and directing another movie!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884814/
"Angel Heart" kind of bored me in the first half with all of Mickey Rouke's mundane detective work and then puilled the rug out from under my feet in the second part. Religious overtones suddenly bombarded my thinking and I felt really overwhelmed and disoriented (in a good way).
It reminded me of how I felt at the end of "The Sixth Sense" back in '99 when I was a sophomore in high school and had never experienced a film that needed a second viewing so pertinently. That is how I feel about Angel Heart now, like I need to view it again immediately.
Posted by Jeffrey Kunze
at May 15, 2008 8:31 PM
comment #14
actionman
says ...
What didn't impress you with Things We Lost In the Fire?
Posted by actionman
at May 15, 2008 10:53 PM
comment #15
Aladdin Sane
says ...
Sounds really good. Can't wait to see it.
Posted by Aladdin Sane
at May 16, 2008 1:01 AM
comment #16
Crystal P. Mcglynn
says ...
It reminded me of how I felt at the end of "The Sixth Sense" back in '99 when I was a sophomore in high school and had never experienced a film that needed a second viewing so pertinently. That is how I feel about Angel Heart now, like I need to view it again immediately.
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Posted by Crystal P. Mcglynn
at July 12, 2009 1:51 PM
comment #17
Crystal P. Mcglynn
says ...
wow... very nice post thanks!!
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at July 19, 2009 1:42 PM
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Crystal P. Mcglynn
says ...
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at October 9, 2009 11:27 PM
comment #21
arentin
says ...
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Posted by arentin
at February 1, 2010 1:41 AM
comment #22
Valentinus
says ...
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Posted by Valentinus
at February 6, 2010 2:34 AM
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