Honey
Bal
30/3/12
Dir: Semih Kaplanoglu
Germany/Turkey 2010 103 min
Starring: Bora Altas, Erdal Besikcioglu, Tülin Özen, Alev Ucarer, Ayse Altay
Language: Turkish
From the complicated relationship between a child and his mother to the story of a
child and his father. The final part of the trilogy arrives at Yusuf’s childhood although
the sense of time and place is deliberately distorted as dream sequences converge
with reality in six-year-old Yusuf’s story. As he goes through the trauma of beginning
school, he refuses to talk and dreams are his only way to communicate. Young
Bora Altaş is remarkable as Yusuf and there is some superlative photography by
Barış Özbiçer. Set in the remote and undeveloped eastern Black Sea region, BAL
is a beautiful meditation on familial love and the mysteries of nature. – 16th London
Turkish Film Festival 2010
