Ceylan has become almost a regular in Cannes with several of his previous films screening in competition and both his Distant (2003) and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) winning the Grand Jury Prizes and Ceylan picking up the best director award for his Three Monkeys (2008).

Winter Sleep which is clearly the work of a mature master at his peak might just be his best film to date and it looks sure that Ceylan will not come away from Cannes empty handed this year as well as piling up a string of festival invitations and prizes globally.

While stunning landscapes and visuals are always a major element in the films of this former photographer Ceylan always has developed his films in the direction of his characters and Winter Sleep is more than anything a character study of its central hero, Aydin, a former actor, played by Haluk Bilginer.

Aydin runs a small hotel in central Anatolia with his much younger wife Nihal played Melisa Sozen.  The hotel suitably theatrically named Othello caters to backpackers and tourists who come to enjoy the other-worldly scenes of Cappadocia one of the most stunning and unique landscapes on the planet. One almost feels the mundane pre-occupations of Ceylan’s characters set against such a unique and anything but mundane backdrop intensifies the sense of their lack of purpose in life.

Aydin while not wealthy compared to global oligarachs is quite well-off compared to his impoverished neighbours and he sees himself as a considerable cut above those around him. He is something of a local celebrity and writes a column for the local newspaper the Voices of the Steppe. The film evokes Chekhov with Aydin as a provincial intellectual with his knowledge of Turkish theatre and his cultural pursuits and the lengthy dialogues that the film is made up of while nothing much is really happening on screen in terms of action.

Aydin is also a local landlord and while espousing enlightened views he employs a debt collector and the fact that the locals really hate him is brought home in the opening scenes when a young boy throws a rock at his vehicle breaking his windshield. While seemingly charming and educated we begin the realise that Aydin is really greedy, self-satisfied and boring deluding himself with his own sense of intellectual superiority to the locals which isn’t much of a feat considering the low level of money and education in the village.

But what makes the film into a masterpiece is the long dialogues written by Ceylan and his wife Ebru. What we see is the disintegration of a marriage in slow motion as Nihal goes on with her criticisms of Aydin and her dissatisfaction with their marriage and Aydin responds with patronizing dialogues as if Nihal was a child having a tantrum. Adding to the lengthy dialogues the reveal his character and its defects are also long dialogues with Aydin’s sister Necla played by Demet Akbag who is recovering from a divorce and also crucifies her brother verbally and at length. The film is more than an heir to Ingmar Bergman and Ceylan examines the souls of his characters in a profound way while drawing suberb performances from his three leading Turkish actors.

DoP Gokhan Tiryaki catches the light of Anatolia and this surreal landscape with a snow-fall capping the stunning visuals of the film.

Ceyhan has gone on record express his admiration of Russian artists and writers and the influence of Tarkovski is also apparent. But is Ceylan the heir to Bergman or Tarkovski? Not really. A new master seems to be making his own original cinematic masterpieces and his name is Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

Credits: Winter Sleep (Turkey)

Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Cast: Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sozen, Demet Akbag