Turkish master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan's follow-up to his superb WINTER SLEEP is another intimate epic. Again, over 3 hours long, but, focused on a writer, Sinan. The writer here is a young college graduate determined to not only publish his first novel, but, also to break free from his father, Idris - a teacher who also had wild ambition, but, never succeeded.
While the story is simple, Ceylan plunges at length into his characters. A couple of sequences truly stand out: First, is an accidental meeting with a young woman the writer once had his eye one, but, who is now headed, unenthusiastically, into a marriage. The scene plays out in 'real time'. Long past the point where a conventional movie would have moved on. At first it draws the viewer in, and, later, makes one feel almost uncomfortable. As if intruding on a private moment. Even more awkward is a long sequence where Sinan meets a successful local author. They engage. Then spar. Then quarrel. All of the audaciousness and frustrations of Sinan play out over the extended scenes.
Despite the tight nature of the plot, Ceylan isn't a 'drawing room' type of filmmaker. He uses the vast Turkish landscape as a means of showing how small a man can be against such a harsh environment. As I noted: an intimate epic.
In the end, WILD PEAR TREE doesn't work as well as a WINTER SLEEP, or his masterwork, ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA. The central character isn't quite interesting enough to carry the length of the movie. And, the relationship arc with the father is rather easy to discern long before the half-way point. PEAR isn't a movie for the casual filmgoer. But, it is one to savor should one want to plunge themselves into this world - like diving into a densely detailed novel.
Review of The Wild Pear Tree
