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New York Post

WORTHY LIFE LESSONS FROM A TURKISH ODD COUPLE

V.A. Musetto, New York Post, 12 March 2004

Lonely in Istanbul.

IF "Starsky & Hutch" is your idea of art, keep your distance from "Distant," the droll new movie from maverick Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

If, on the other hand, you're searching for something that will remain with you long after leaving the theater, run, don't walk, to "Distant."

It won three prizes at last year's Istanbul Film Festival and two more at Cannes before screening to glowing reviews at the non-competitive New York Film Festival.

Employing little dialogue and long, static takes, "Distance" focuses on Mahmut, a melancholic Istanbul photographer who spends most of his time plopped in front of the TV watching porn tapes, with time out for Andrei Tarkovsky's "Stalker" (which has much in common with "Distant").

Occasionally, a woman - she might be a prostitute, but that is never made clear - pops into his apartment for sex.

His well-ordered life is thrown into shambles when Yusuf, a distant relative from a remote village, comes to visit while he looks for work on the Istanbul waterfront.

Friction ensues: Mahmut (Muzaffer Ozdemir), who can't wait for his visitor to leave, is fastidious; Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak), who isn't budging, is a slob.

In conventional terms, not much happens in "Distant" (a.k.a. "Uzak").

Mahmut visits his ailing mother. Yusuf stalks a woman who lives near his unwilling host. The height of action comes when Mahmut captures a pesky mouse in a trap.

But "Distant" has much to say about solitude and friendship and just plain coping with life.
Ceylan has a keen eye for small details, which make "Distant" all the more compelling.

The acting is superb - in fact, Ozdemir and Toprak shared the best-actor prize in Cannes, although Toprak died in a car accident shortly before the festival.

Bilge did his own photography, and his camera beautifully records the wondrous beauty of snowy Istanbul.

Introducing the film in that city, Ceylan, 44, said he would be happy if "Distant" made enough money so he could make another one.

Not only has "Distant" done that, it has put Ceylan on the international film map.