Ervas Secas

While I'm not accustomed to writing reviews, I feel compelled to share my thoughts on this film. The experience leaves me with mixed emotions. Visually, it's undeniably stunning, but the narrative's prolonged nature leaves a somewhat unpleasant aftertaste. With a runtime of 3 hours, the first two are rather tedious, contrasting sharply with the spectacular final hour. This is perhaps the most disappointing thing about the movie because it's well seen that this has potential. The final hour stands out as one of the best cinematic experiences I've had, but it's the initial two hours that fail to captivate. The slow pace, extended duration, and occasional loss of coherence contribute to my reservations.

Regarding the characters, the protagonist is remarkably selfish, self-centered, and outright unpleasant to others. While I appreciate the appeal of characters challenging viewers' perspectives, personally, I struggle to enjoy a narrative with such a malevolent main character. This character type represents the one I find most detestable.

In terms of character impact, none, except for the woman, left a significant impression on me. She undeniably stands out as the most intriguing character in the entire movie. The final scene, where she confronts her friend, emerges as one of the most impactful moments in the film.

Despite being a polarizing film that either garners love or disdain, I encourage individuals to give it a chance. Maybe not solely for the characters or the storyline, but there's a potential for valuable lessons to be gleaned from this cinematic endeavor.

A 3.5 hour visual feast. Like Nuri Bilge Ceylan's previous films, this film, although quite long, contains plenty of dialogue that is not boring. Although the action part takes place in the countryside, there are visually fairy-tale environments. However, life is not easy at all in this deserted geography of Anatolia. The film greets the audience with snowy landscapes. In the beginning, we follow teacher Samet. Samet proceeds on the road surrounded by a white and endless horizon in the snow. This powerful scene provides clear clues about the film.

From the first moments of the film, director NBC establishes a fascinating and desolate atmosphere. It repeatedly tells us (as in the movie Winter Sleep) that loneliness is not only a result of external conditions, but also the result of our own emotional moves and selfish attitudes. Master cinematographer Gökhan Tiryaki did not take part in this movie, but the movie is still very successful. Cold colors and gray tones convey the isolation and depression of the characters in a balanced way. It allows us to feel the coldness on the characters' faces and the warmth of a glass of tea.

The deep scenario forces you to consider fundamental issues of the human condition in the context of good and evil, individualism and collectivism. NBC shows us that these dilemmas exist in all societies and force us to question our own beliefs and behaviors.

Again a Masterpiece!

(But USA's Oscars and the Golden Globe will again ignore the master director.)

An absolute masterpiece! I'm tempted to give it five stars, but I'll determine that upon rewatch. About Dry Grasses is a powerful, albeit quiet tale that explores the pursuit of meaning and the lack of control in life, told from the singular lens of a bored and self-absorbed man trapped in a teaching position. In its bloated three-hour runtime, Ceylan seems to simulate the monotonous quality of rural life and brings an authentic personality and candidness to the characters by means such as using minimal music, featuring prolonged scenes, etc. Some might consider this relentless realism as boring, but the script isn't short of emotionally riveting moments and has a slight wittiness and humorousness in the dialogue that makes it very entertaining to sit through. Obviously, all the performances are tremendous and the beautiful cinematography highlights the alienation and oppression that characters must feel. Especially with Deniz Celiloglu, who threads a fine line between angst and friendliness yet always earns the audience's empathy despite his questionable behaviour. More than a mere narrative, About Dry Grasses serves as a profound character study, beckoning us into Samet's psyche, while simultaneously encouraging us to critique him. Ultimately, About Dry Grasses works as a film about the fragility of friendship, the perils of narcissism and serves as a cautionary tale on not letting our human nature detract from our appreciation of life. This is definitely one of the best films of 2023 that I've watched so far, and also one of the most underrated.

A not very pleasant character is the lead. He is selfish, self regretting, seeks love of too young girls, wants a women, because a friend wants her, has no aim to help other people, talks a lot about bad circumstances, but does nothing to improve something. Truly, not somebody we want to follow as lead character. But .... movies are long enough to do a lot of self reflecting during viewing. And in the end I had to admit to myself: my own character is - very sadly - quite close to that of this lead character. And he survives - so I might survive, too.

Don't be afraid of the movie length. In fact I could have studied the characters for another hour... Fully recommended !

While we were patiently and curiously waiting for Merve Dizdar's award-winning performance throughout the movie, it was disappointing to encounter the parallel universe version of Gülben's character in Masumlar Apartment, or even less. I think many viewers will agree that Ece Bagci did a more impressive and convincing job in terms of art with her performance as Sevim. I guess we can say that political decisions have once again overshadowed creativity and art.

Apart from that, when I think about Nuri Bilge Ceylan's filmography, it was a movie where I saw humorous elements that made me smile for the first time after the melon scene placed next to the corpse in the trunk in Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. But unlike Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, the dialogues of the characters felt like they were actually the director's monologue. I had the same feeling, especially in Winter Sleep and Pear Tree. The film stands out among the director's recent films in terms of flow, humor and abundance of dialogue.