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Not
Exactly Felix and Oscar, but an Odd Couple All the Same
Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times, 15 October 2004
I have to admit that ''Distant,''
the director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's wry, modest meditation on pettiness that
opens tonight at the New York Film Festival, didn't initially grab my
attention. It was on a second viewing that the minimalist scale of the
Turkish comedy-melodrama, which received the grand jury prize at this
year's Cannes International Film Festival (admittedly, not always an indicator
of worthiness), began to work its spell on me. The cinematography was
always striking -- the marble grays and cobalt blues of Mr. Ceylan's palette
are at first calming and initially maddening -- and rendered in a series
of long shots, with a sure hand. (The director was also director of photography,
in addition to writing and producing the film.)
Mr. Ceylan's film, set in Istanbul, is a study in which not much happens;
Mahmut (Muzaffer Ozdemir), a photographer, allows his cousin Yusuf (Mehmet
Emin Toprak), to move into his tiny apartment with him. Yusuf, a reminder
of the life Mahmut has left behind -- they're both from the same village
-- has plans to find a job on a ship, something that never quite happens.
''Distant'' (''Uzak'') is almost like a droll take on ''The Odd Couple'';
can two men live together without driving each other crazy (especially
in an apartment that's gray and oppressive even by Manhattan standards)?
The take-and-take -- rather than give-and-take -- of their existence seems
to be set on the head of a pin, since ''Distant'' is so minutely observed.
There are a few chuckles initially, especially watching Mahmut's awful,
crass attempts to pick up women, and his obsession with pornographic movies.
It's soon revealed that domestic events have led to his flight into crassness,
and his loss will deepen over the span of ''Distant.''
Perhaps deepen isn't exactly the word, since Mahmut and Yusuf spend an
enormous amount of time watching television, perching on chairs like vultures,
their haggard gazes cutting occasionally toward each other, while a procession
of dreary shows moves slowly past them; ''Distant'' sometimes feels like
being trapped in a hotel room on a weekday afternoon.
As crude and selfish as Mahmut is, Yusuf still finds a way to cramp his
cousin's style, or invade his space, whichever cliché one wants to invoke.
Mahmut obviously wants Yusuf out, but can't dislodge his relative, who
has become like a particularly slovenly barnacle on his soul. Mahmut is
hindered by an emotional condition, having raised passive-aggressive behavior
to new heights. Worse, his cousin is a reminder that his options have
disappeared, both professionally -- Mahmut now takes jobs just to make
a living -- and personally; he can no longer even do what he wants at
home because of his new roommate.
Maybe the director makes a none-too-subtle point about the evaporation
of opportunity in Turkey, but the performances by the actors jointly won
its two stars the best actor award at this year's Cannes Festival. The
caginess of the performers, and the personality added by the evocative
cinematography, both go a long way in adding weight to ''Distant.''
But the self-imposed dreariness prevails: eventually, the problem is the
material itself. Such an accurate depiction of cramped spirits, small-mindedness
and men unable to make changes in their lives takes its toll. ''Distant''
feels as if it's going nowhere in no particular hurry, and finally leaves
us distant from its characters.
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