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 & 32 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 | police | dead body | steppe | doctor | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

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:

$1,175,849

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zeynofilm, Production 2006, 1000 Volt

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ercan Kesal, playing the Mukhtar in the movie, is a medical doctor in his real life. His real life experience as a doctor in the Anatolian town where the movie was also shot had inspired the director and the scriptwriter, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, to make the movie.

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Goofs

Once the deceased body is discovered you can see the "corpse's" thumb briefly twitch.

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Connections

Featured in Balkan Spirit (2013)

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Soundtracks

Alli Turnam (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da)
By Neset Ertas

User Reviews

Totally Unexpected Take on a Police Procedural

I think this is the best movie of 2011 so far. A very different, but brilliantly conceived three part police procedural that is really a character study of two men and how they each deal with the past. In many ways, I had a similar experience here to what I have when I read a really good novel. The characters are rich and complex, often funny, and thoroughly believable. Nothing is crammed down the audience's throat, yet there is so much detail and nuance that it becomes easy to see the two men for the basically good, complex people they are. This is a movie that respects the audience's intelligence. It is also a movie that is easily among the best shot and edited of the year. In fact, it is hard to think of a single thing that I would suggest to improve the film. I have seen other Ceylan films, but nothing of his has ever had the depth, nuance and humanity of this one.