''Uzak'' (, ''Distant'' in North America) is a 2002 Turkish
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written, produced, shot and directed by
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan (, born 26 January 1959) is a Turkish photographer, filmmaker and actor best known for the Palme d'Or winning ''Winter Sleep (film), Winter Sleep'' (2014).
Early life
Ceylan was born in Istanbul on 26 January 1959. His interes ...
.
The film won a total of 31 awards at various film festivals, including Best Actor at Cannes, Special Jury Prize at Chicago, and Best Balkan Movie at Sofia International Film Festival.
Plot
''Uzak'' tells the story of Yusuf (
Mehmet Emin Toprak
Mehmet Emin Toprak (11 September 1974 – 2 December 2002) was a Turkish film actor.
Toprak starred in the critically acclaimed 2002 film ''Uzak''. He died in a car crash on the way back from the Ankara Film Festival, near the town of Çan at ...
), a young factory worker who loses his job and travels to
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
to stay with his relative Mahmut (Muzaffer Özdemir) while looking for a job. Mahmut is a relatively wealthy and intellectual photographer, whereas Yusuf is almost illiterate, uneducated, and unsophisticated. The two do not get along well. Yusuf assumes that he will easily find work as a
sailor
A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship.
The profession of the s ...
, but there are no jobs, and he has no sense of direction or energy. Meanwhile, Mahmut, despite his wealth, is aimless too: his job, which consists of photographing tiles, is dull and inartistic, he can barely express emotions towards his ex-wife or his lover, and while he pretends to enjoy intellectual filmmakers like
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...
, he switches channels to watch porn as soon as Yusuf leaves the room.
Mahmut attempts to bond with Yusuf and recapture his love of art by taking him on a drive to photograph the beautiful Turkish countryside, but the attempt is a failure on both counts. At the end of the film, Yusuf leaves without telling Mahmut, who is left to sit by the docks, watching the ships on his own.
Cast
*
Muzaffer Özdemir
Muzaffer Özdemir (born 1955 in Gümüşhane) is a Turkish actor. He is best known for his performance as Mahmut in Uzak.
Awards
* Best actor at Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 ca ...
as Mahmut
*
Mehmet Emin Toprak
Mehmet Emin Toprak (11 September 1974 – 2 December 2002) was a Turkish film actor.
Toprak starred in the critically acclaimed 2002 film ''Uzak''. He died in a car crash on the way back from the Ankara Film Festival, near the town of Çan at ...
as Yusuf
* Zuhal Gencer as Nazan (as Zuhal Gencer Erkaya)
* Nazan Kirilmis as Lover
* Feridun Koc as Janitor
* Fatma Ceylan as Mother
Production
Ceylan made the film with a team of 5 people, and stated that he found the body of the French teacher on the upper floor of the apartment where he lived, thus he was very affected by this incident and included in the film.
''Uzak'' was the last film that the actor
Mehmet Emin Toprak
Mehmet Emin Toprak (11 September 1974 – 2 December 2002) was a Turkish film actor.
Toprak starred in the critically acclaimed 2002 film ''Uzak''. He died in a car crash on the way back from the Ankara Film Festival, near the town of Çan at ...
would be involved with, as he died in a car accident soon after filming was completed. He was 28 years old.
Reception
''Distant'' has been acclaimed by critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 87%, based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Hauntingly beautiful, ''Distant'' communicates volumes with its almost pervasive silence." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has an average score of 84 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Tom Dawson of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
describes the film as "richly contemplative and languid filmmaking" and added "Few recent films have been so accomplished in capturing the way people drift through their lives, unable to communicate their emotions and feelings." David Sterritt of ''
The Christian Science Monitor
''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'' describes it as a "unassuming, acutely observant drama."
''Uzak'' won 17 awards and 2 nominations, including the
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
and
Prix d'interprétation masculine, shared by the two lead actors of the film at the
2003 Cannes Film Festival
The 56th Cannes Film Festival started on 14 May and ran until 25 May 2003. French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer Patrice Chéreau was the President of the Jury. The Palme d'Or went to the American film ''Elephant'' by G ...
.
In 2019, director
Andrew Haigh
Andrew Haigh (; born 7 March 1973) is a British filmmaker.
Early life
Haigh was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. He read History at Newcastle University.
Career
Haigh worked as an assistant editor on films such as ''Gladiator (200 ...
named it as the best film of the 21st century, praising it as "one of the best about loneliness ever made."
References
External links
*
*
*
Review of ''Distant''at
Blogcritics
Blogcritics is a blog network and online magazine of news and opinion. The site was founded in 2002 by Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn. Blogcritics features more than 100 original articles every week, and maintains an archive of all its published con ...
Uzak: A film review
{{Authority control
2002 drama films
Films set in Istanbul
Films set in Turkey
Films shot in Turkey
Films directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Golden Orange Award for Best Film winners
Turkish drama films
2002 films
Cannes Grand Prix winners
Films shot in Istanbul
2000s Turkish-language films