It's interesting to read comments made on YUMURTA (EGG) in isolation from the other two films in the trilogy, SÜT (2009) and BAL (2010). Although the first-released of the three, YUMURTA is temporally the last, telling of the adolescent Yusuf (Nejat İsler), who has been reduced to becoming a secondhand bookseller in İstanbul. Whereas once he had a promising career as a writer (alluded to in SÜT and referred to again in YUMURTA), he has neither enjoyed the luck nor the inspiration to pursue his chosen career. Hence he becomes vicariously involved with literature by purveying it.
Yusuf's life receives a sudden jolt when he learns of the death of his mother Zehra (Semra Kaplanoğlu). He returns to his childhood home of Tire in the west of Turkey, and experiences ambivalent feelings about the return. In the past he had always vowed to leave, but once he encounters Ayla (Saadet Aksoy), the teenage daughter of his uncle, Yusuf begins to feel more ambivalent about himself and his position in life. The ending represents a complete volte-face from the beginning; Yusuf might not necessarily be happy in the future, but he has acted according to his inclinations, something that he had abandoned during his move to İstanbul.
Kaplanoğlu's film incorporates several striking images, notably the sight of Zehra moving towards and away from a static camera, suggesting an engagement with and a deliberate flight from life. There are frequent shots where the protagonists are viewed as specks on the vast rural landscape, drawing our attention to their insignificance in the overall scheme of things. If this is the case, then we should try to make the best of what we have, rather than trying to pursue unfocused dreams.
YUMURTA also makes a lot of rituals and their significance: despite his obvious squeamishness, Yusuf has to observe Zehra's dying wish of sacrificing a ram to God, if only to acknowledge the extent of divine power. The egg is also important: when Yusuf cracks one open early on in the film, nature reacts in an unexpected way. However, once he has learned to come to terms with his world, he understands the connection between the egg and life; it is something to be treasured, not broken.
Beautifully photographed and structured with a deep connection to the environment, YUMURTA offers a satisfying and powerful coda to Kaplanoğlu's trilogy.
