Moral Discussions Engage in “Winter Sleep”

Moral Discussions Engage in “Winter Sleep” January 30, 2015

Review of Winter Sleep, Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Writer-director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest film, Winter Sleep, is rolling out slowly in North American markets. Despite winning the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, this talky, three-hour-and-16-minute drama from Turkey is challenging fare even for the North American arthouse crowd. But like last year’s 250-minute Norte: The End of History from the Philippines, Winter Sleep is a deeply engaging moral drama and rich cinematic experience. Perhaps that’s to be expected, given that Norte has its roots in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Winter Sleep adapts short stories by Anton Chekov.

In the mountains of Anatolia, Aydin (Haluk Bilginer) runs a hotel. He also writes a local newspaper column, allowing him to pontificate on regional problems for a country that’s 99% Muslim. However, Aydin and his wife Nihal (Melisa Sozen) are by no means devout—far from it in the case of Aydin, whose moralizing in his column has driven a wedge between Aydin and Nihal. She sees through Aydin’s moralizing in his columns, explaining to him, “You hate believers,” and then adding, “You hate unbelievers!”

Tired of submitting to a man whose authority in certain areas she doubts, Nihal tries to pierce Aydin’s shell of comfort and make him see what he’s missed for so long—mainly the extent of Nihal’s unhappiness. But Aydin has also tired of Nihal, whom he call a “bored neurotic.”

Image Credit: Flickr
Image Credit: Flickr

The couple’s conversations are honest, uncomfortable and penetrating, with Nihal asserting her independence and Aydin accusing her of selfishness. When Nihal hosts a fundraising meeting for local schools and Aydin inserts himself into their deliberations, it proves to be the final straw for Nihal, who threatens to leave Aydin. He reacts by telling his wife that it is he, not she, who will do the leaving.

There’s more to the couple’s story, and to Winter Sleep, which also deals with resentful tenants, sibling contempt and simmering generational unrest. The film unfolds slowly, but it’s never boring, with scenery—both exteriors and interiors—that are never less than beautiful.

Ceylan’s previous film, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, was a mystery/crime story punctuated by lengthy discussions exploring deep moral questions. That film now looks like a stepping stone to Winter Sleep, which has little mystery or suspense beyond the capacity of its characters to wound each other. But even then, there are offers of forgiveness (not always received) and vows to behave better in the future.

Both Anatolia and Winter Sleep were shot by Ceylan’s longtime cinematographer, Gokhan Tiryaki, who captures the majesty of Turkey’s mountains and gives his interior images a warm, inviting glow.

But it’s the film’s discussion of repentance and forgiveness that lingers after the cutting comments and eloquent airing of grievances in Winter Sleep. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” Proverbs tells us (15:1). The words in Winter Sleep are often harsh, rarely soft, but the emotions are universal. As a cinematic experience, however, it’s an all too rare master work, not to mention a reminder of how natural wonder and moral drama are more than enough to justify and sustain a lengthy running time. What more could a viewer desire?


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