Chris Knipp Writing: Movies, Politics, Art


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:30 pm 
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UMUT SUBAŞI: ALMOST ENTIRELY A SLIGHT DISASTER (2022) - NEW DIRECTORS/NEW FILMS 2023

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Dry urban social comedy of twenty-somethings adrift in Istanbul

"Four twenty somethings in contemporary Istanbul: Zeynep is a student who feels distressed from following daily news. Her housemate Ayşe tries to flee abroad because she cannot see a future for herself in Turkey. Mehmet is a married engineer who is never satisfied with his above-average life, while unemployed Ali feels stuck living with his parents. Coincidences bring them together in a playful manner. Almost Entirely a Slight Disaster explores the anxieties faced by the new generation with its humorous and intertwined ways."

This is an effort to present contemporary urban Turkish life in a dry, ironic manner. It may work for some localsmore than for those from other climes. It is frankly hard to see where the disjointed little scenes are going. An effort is made at coldness. Settings are drab, with a repetitious little piano theme. The scenes and costumes and color coding are blue, gray, and a little beige. In the first half, there are numerous jump-cuts in which the various characters are shown sobbing privately: we get that theya re much less happy than they appear - not that they seem very upbeat. Some repetitions or overlapping sequences, such as going to tourist spots or a game where the other person is supposed to copy hand motions, are hard to make sense of. There is a theme of asking for money, asking for a recommendation for a job, paying money back; horoscope, the zodiac, the lottery, the stars. Some of the people speak English to each other and one claims to be visiting from Afghanistan. Two of them almost go to a hotel together, but the girl changes her mind.

At the end, the four principal characters unite and drink cups of Turkish coffee in someone's home. Later, the two young women send the two young men packing. This is a highlight;, a coming together.

Someone is looking for poetry, for excitement, for romanticism. Someone takes a personality test and it shows her to be not very romantic. And there are the sudden, private, inconsolable sobs.

With Mert Can Sevimli, İbrahim Arıcı, Melisa Bostancıoğlu, and Melis Sevinç.

Tuesday, April 4
6:00pm, FLC Walter Reade Theater (Q&A with Umut Subasi)
Wednesday, April 5
8:45pm, MoMA T2 (Q&A with Umut Subasi)

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©Chris Knipp. Blog: http://chrisknipp.blogspot.com/.


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