The Three Monkeys (2008)

Directed by: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Written by: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Ercan Kesal.

Very interesting to see a Turkish feature film. Eyup is a driver for Servet, a politician. One day his boss hits a person deadly with his car. Servet flees and instead of reporting to the police he asks Eyup to assume the guilt if he receives an amount of money when he comes out.

This is the start of a beautifully shot but very dark little tale about family break-down, deception and the vast consequences of bad choices.

The three monkeys, in spite of its horrible and misleading title (if you don’t know the tale about the monkeys), is a very well-knit drama, extremely well-played and beatifully filmed. The small draw-backs of believability in the story are totally compensated by the professionalism of acting, cinematography, décor, lighting and – substance. Many films in the current flow appear superficial in comparison. This is fictional realism at its best.

Also, it’s always relieving to leave the theatre with the feeling that the film wasn’t made to gain money firsthand, but to express and say something worthful.

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