★★★☆☆Turkish filmmaker Kaan Mujdeci's debut feature film and Venice competition entry Sivas (2014) is a well-shot if slight story of a young boy who finds a place for himself in the world as the owner of a fighting dog. Dogan Izci plays Aslan - not the wise lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe fame, but rather an 11-year-old with heaps of attitude. We first see Aslan setting off fireworks and then scrapping with his mates. He lives in a small village in rural Anatolia with his almost invisible mother and taciturn father and his slightly deranged grown up brother Sahin (Ozan Celik). Beyond the village the land stretches away as far as the eye can see, but Aslan's life is hemmed in by poverty and tradition.
- 9/3/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Celebrating its centennial year this year, Turkish film has already gifted us a Cannes winner with Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep whilst here in Venice Kaan Müjdeci’s Sivas snarls onto the screen and into competition.
Like many of its predecessors set in rural Anatolia, Sivas portrays a sense of the wildness and beauty of the region, but also its bleak isolation and stultifying benighted environment. The story is of one boy and his dog, but this is no Lassie Come Home.
The boy in question is Aslan (Doğan Izci) who fights and argues with his male classmates and has his heart set on a pretty girl in his class. He’s a bit of an outcast and is often seen stomping home alone. Home is a decrepit farmstead that he shares with his much older brother Şahin (Ozan Celik) and his parents. When Aslan is done with school,...
Like many of its predecessors set in rural Anatolia, Sivas portrays a sense of the wildness and beauty of the region, but also its bleak isolation and stultifying benighted environment. The story is of one boy and his dog, but this is no Lassie Come Home.
The boy in question is Aslan (Doğan Izci) who fights and argues with his male classmates and has his heart set on a pretty girl in his class. He’s a bit of an outcast and is often seen stomping home alone. Home is a decrepit farmstead that he shares with his much older brother Şahin (Ozan Celik) and his parents. When Aslan is done with school,...
- 9/3/2014
- by Jo-Ann Titmarsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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