Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)

A group of men set out in search of a dead body in the Anatolian steppes.

Director:

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Writers:

Ercan Kesal, Ebru Ceylan

Stars:

Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel

21 wins & 33 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Muhammet Uzuner	...	Doctor Cemal
Yilmaz Erdogan	...	Commissar Naci
Taner Birsel	...	Prosecutor Nusret
Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan	...	Driver Arab Ali
Firat Tanis	...	Suspect Kenan
Ercan Kesal	...	Mukhtar
Erol Erarslan	...	Murder Victim Yasar
Ugur Aslanoglu	...	Courthouse Driver Tevfik
Murat Kiliç	...	Police Officer Izzet
Safak Karali	...	Courthouse Clerk Abidin
Emre Sen	...	Sergeant Onder
Burhan Yildiz	...	Suspect Ramazan / Zanli Ramazan
Nihan Okutucu	...	Yasar's wife Gülnaz
Cansu Demirci	...	Mukhtar's Daughter Cemile
Kubilay Tunçer	...	Autopsy Technician Sakir

Storyline

In the rural area around the Anatolian town of Keskin, the local prosecutor, police commissar, and doctor lead a search for a victim of a murder to whom a suspect named Kenan and his mentally challenged brother confessed. However, the search is proving more difficult than expected as Kenan is fuzzy as to the body's exact location. As the group continues looking, its members can't help but chat among themselves about both trivia and their deepest concerns in an investigation that is proving more trying than any of them expected.

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Plot Keywords:

child | fountain | coke | homicide | mukhtar | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The word Anatolia means East, originally referring to the Ionian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor

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Goofs

Naci speaks to his wife on the mobile phone. When his wife hangs up angrily, a dial tone is heard. No dial tone is heard on mobile phones.

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Connections

Featured in The 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards (2013)

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Soundtracks

Alli Turnam
Performed by Neset Ertas
Written by Haci Tasan

User Reviews

A long night in the Turkish countryside

This film won the Grand Prix in Cannes, and it was deserved. A team goes into the countryside to find the body of a murder victim. The team includes the two men accused of the murder,one of whom has confessed and says he wills show them where they buried the body, the police chief, prosecutor, doctor, diggers, and guards. As the night drags on into the next day and the body is not found, the men grow more and more tired. Much of the film is beautifully shot in the dark or semi-dark, lit only by the headlights of the cars or a lamp in the village where they stop to rest. The filming is slow, showing the beautiful countryside and vignettes that wonderfully shed light on the different characters. What seems to be a simple task grows more and more complex; everything in the movie turns out to be more complicated than it first seems. Everyone seems to be guilty of something, so the film becomes a question not only of will the body be found, but who is guilty of what?

One could say that the film is too slow, but just as the team grows more and more tired, so arewe as the viewers, participating in the fatigue of the team, drawn into the feelings of the characters. Women and children are present only as lovely cameos in the film, but are behind almost everything. The actors are all superb, and it was amazing to me that Ceylan could show such depth and breadth of character and emotion and drama with only a few lines of dialog and amazing closeups of the faces.

Details

Country:

Turkey Bosnia and Herzegovina

Language:

Turkish

Release Date:

23 September 2011 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

Filming Locations:

Turkey

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,952, 8 January 2012

Gross USA:

$152,408

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,099,472

Company Credits

Production Co:

NBC Film, Production 2006, 1000 Volt

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1