Yumurta (2007)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Semih Kaplanoglu

Writers:

Semih Kaplanoglu (writer)
Orçun Köksal (writer)

Release Date:

9 November 2007 (Turkey)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Poet Yusuf (35-38) returns to his childhood hometown, which he hadn't visited for years, upon his mother's death...

Plot Keywords:

Death | Sacrifice | Funeral | Flower | Animal Sacrifice

Awards:

12 wins

Cast

Nejat Isler	...	Yusuf
Saadet Aksoy	...	Ayla
Ufuk Bayraktar	...	Haluk
Tülin Özen	...	Sahaftaki Kadin
Gülçin Santýrcýoðlu	...	Gül
Kaan Karabacak	...	Çapaci Çocuk
Semra Kaplanoglu	...	Zehra

Also Known As:

Avgo (Greece) (festival title)
Egg (International: English title)

Runtime:

Turkey:97 min

Country:

Turkey | Greece

Language:

Turkish

Color:

Color

Company:

Inkas Film & T.V. Productions

Existentialism 101

The problem with Egg is not that it is rotten. It is not. It is just that it does not feel organic. The director's own admission that he is interested in film-making as an exercise in philosophy is evident in every scene. However, those that need a lesson in elementary existentialism will be bored by the film and those that would not mind a bit of thinking for thinking's sake will be bored by it, too – for different reasons. The lonely poet that left his roots but couldn't grow new ones goes back home because mom dies… Then, he looks at the young woman that never left and smiles to himself knowingly. Then, he looks at the confused young man that looks at the same young woman and he smiles to himself knowingly, again… Then he faints, then he is stopped by a big dog from leaving the village and then…

Nothing. See, it is all about the post-Sartre, tainted with Camus but no need for violence thingy. The universe, like, has no innate meaning other than the one we give to it – like, egg, get it? When I grow up, I will become a nihilist, but for now I believe in nothing much…

It is still watchable. For one thing, it has Nejat Isler, the actor that is fast proving himself as one of the best thespians of his generation in Turkey. In the flawed but much more meaningful film, Barda, he was a mesmerising presence, doing a lot with some that was written for him. Here, he does a lot with nothing. The issue is that doing a lot with nothing still comes to nothing. We feel for him when he cries, but also feel like slapping him in the face: Get over it, buddy, this wasn't all that interesting even when Antonioni made Marcello do it…

My two pennies for the director – you got the cinematography right, you got the actors under control, sound is above average… How about some story for the next one?