Tag Archives: Three Monkeys

Winter Sleep (2014)

Winter Sleep film review

My Ratings: 4.5/5.

Most directors make Films but only a few can really create Cinema. And Winter Sleep (original title – Kis Uykusu) is such a rare cinematic experience.

Thanks to the Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan for once again sharing his remarkable vision with us; his latest film Winter Sleep is yet another extraordinary accomplishment.

winter-sleep-poster2This year Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the prestigious Palme d’Or award for Winter Sleep at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

And he is probably the only director who has never left the Cannes Film Festival empty handed. His earlier films Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Three MonkeysClimatesDistant – all of them have been received with immense critical appreciation and awards too.

Set in the picturesque backdrop of central Anatolia, Winter Sleep is the story of an aged, rich, philosophical hotel-owner named Aydin (Haluk Bilginer).

The film (adapted from the short story “The Wife”, by Anton Chekhov) basically revolves around Aydin’s relations with his young, beautiful wife Nihal (Melisa Sözen), his nagging, divorced sister Necla (Demet Akbag) and also with a particular poor family of tenants who couldn’t pay the rent.

Superlative performances by all the actors.

winter-sleep-poster1There are many sequences of lengthy conversations between the characters but the beauty of the film is that all these intense dialogues help to expose and reveal the characters. We tend to see the authenticity of these people, the contrast between their status and outlook, their achievements, their intentions and most importantly the flaws in them.

Human psychology exhibited and analysed to perfection.

Just like any other Nuri Bilge Ceylan films, Winter Sleep also has breathtaking visuals and again cinematographer Gökhan Tiryaki is the man behind such brilliance (their fourth film together).

Winter Sleep portrays the Turkish people, their struggle being in the epicenter of both Eastern and Western influences; their vast economic differences and also their proud traditional culture.

A 3hrs 16min film that demands your patience. A must watch.