Honey

after watching hundreds of grate classic Hollywood films, Italian and French unforgettable masterpieces , it's amazing that this specific Turkish movie made it to the top of my list. It is made accurately and neatly , you can see how specific was the directors planning. The story touches the viewer using less words and a more gestures.the connection to nature is very beautiful. the opportunity to get inside a Childs world is as always magical. actors don't even feel as actors , so that is also well done. I never heard of this director before , hope to see some more of his work in the future. I think this movie is intended for film lovers who watched European films before and are use to the slow timing and long cuts , for those who have not watched these before i recommend watching this one if you are trying to get started. waiting for more!

Bal (Honey) is the last film of Semih Kaplanoglu's Yusuf Trilogy. When I first read the script I was convinced that this one shall be the most powerful of the trilogy, and the result seems to confirm me. It is an exquisite film in all senses: the story, acting, visuals, and sound. The kid is superb. Well, it deserves a Golden Bear in Berlinale. I organized a special screening of the film for some European film professionals in Istanbul. Everybody was quite impressed by the masterful naivite and simplicity. The film skilfully manages to portray the kid's world and perspective. There are strong symbolic references waiting the viewers to decipher. The best thing to do is to watch the film. I'm sure you'll not regret it. Just some questions: lets all of us just think why the bees are dying. What kind of a relation do we have with the nature that we cause the bees to die? What is missing? Honey: a sweet thing which is a natural product of the bees. If the bees all die, where shall we find the honey? BAL poses a calm question to our modern civilization, to our modern selves.

From time to time you encounter a movie that's excellent, but somehow doesn't get to you the way it should. This one's such a movie.

So much is done the right way: the calm narrative style and some wonderfully photographed scenes deepen the already atmospheric location work; the actors are convincing; and there's no need for cheap plot twists and conclusions.

But something's missing, maybe some sort of magic realism that would transcend the simple story into a meatier concoction.

I liked it, but I didn't love it.

7 out of 10 humiliating book-readings

In order to make a film deep and engaging, it doesn't always require a philosophic brilliance in the idea or an alien avant-garde approach to it.specifically if its to be in the domain of realism like this drama does all the depth and beauty of the art depends on the simplicity and reality which the filmmaker invest in his work. its the third of Semih Kaplanoglu's Yousuf trilogy; the final one. and like the previous ones it pretty much relies on the same approach. The simple yet emotionally developing life of a kid is beautifully portrayed. Throughout the movie one finds himself passing through a subtle experience, a slow, deeply rich performance something which is more of the characteristics of European cinema.Besides the director has done good cinematography and a concise script that fits brilliantly with the nature and country side.

I would recommend it to all those that hold cinema higher than the source of mere recreation. its simple yet powerful you will definitely enjoy it.

I had wanted to see Bal for a long tie. Finally, I watched it yesterday. Bal is an interesting movie. When a movie has very little action but keeps your attention for two hours, you develop a feeling of respect for the team who made it. You are convinced that making such a movie has lots of difficulty involved, and this mere fact evokes feelings of respect for it within you. Nevertheless, respect does not automatically bring the status of being good to it. Especially, if the movie attempts to give almost all its messages through symbols, looks and constantly rotating camera scenes, another difficulty is brought up, which, in turn, gives rise to evoking feelings of respect for it within you again. This time, the source is the fact that you feel ignorant to decode those messages. In addition, watching Bal is like viewing a Discovery Channel documentary in that the movies presents lots of scenes of both natural and man-made surroundings. However, there is a clear difference between the Discovery Channel documentary and Bal as the events made up of messages in the movie are not coherent and form a congruent story. At the end of the movie, I wanted very much to have conversations with the Jury in Berlin to have a glimpse of what they had thought in honeying Bal with a prestigious award.