Winter Sleep (2014)

A hotel owner and landlord in a remote Turkish village deals with conflicts within his family and a tenant behind on his rent.

Director:

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Writers:

Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Stars:

Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen, Demet Akbag

19 wins & 31 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Haluk Bilginer	...	Aydin
Melisa Sözen	...	Nihal
Demet Akbag	...	Necla
Ayberk Pekcan	...	Sofor Hidayet (Hidayet the chauffeur)
Serhat Mustafa Kiliç	...	Hamdi (as Serhat Kiliç)
Nejat Isler	...	Ismail
Tamer Levent	...	Suavi
Nadir Saribacak	...	Ogretmen Levent (Levent the teacher)
Mehmet Ali Nuroglu	...	Ogretmen Musterisi Timur (Timur, the teacher guest)
Emirhan Doruktutan	...	Ilyas
Ekrem Ilhan	...	Atci Ekrem
Rabia Özel	...	Fatma
Fatma Deniz Yildiz	...	Sevda
Masaki Murao	...	Japanese Tourist Erkek
Junko Yokomizo	...	Japanese Tourist Kadin

Storyline

Aydin, a former actor, runs a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife Nihal with whom he has a stormy relationship and his sister Necla who is suffering from her recent divorce. In winter as the snow begins to fall, the hotel turns into a shelter but also an inescapable place that fuels their animosities...

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Plot Keywords:

throwing a stone at a car | husband wife relationship | written by director | killing a rabbit | burning money | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the wall in Aydin's study room, there is a poster of a play called 'Antonius and Cleopatra'. It is actually the play staged by the main actor of the film, Haluk Bilginer, who played the part of Antonius. This play had its premiere at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London at the International Shakespeare Festival in 2012. The original play was written by William Shakespeare who is also referred to throughout the film, for example in the name of the hotel (Othello) and during the discussion which takes place at Suavi's farm between teacher Levent and Aydin.

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Goofs

The books in Aydin's hands change during the argument with his wife.

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Quotes

Necla: Philanthropy isn't tossing a bone to a hungry dog, it's sharing when you are just as hungry.

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Connections

Referenced in Estrenos Críticos: Perdida, Sueño de Invierno y One Direction (2014)

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Soundtracks

Desolation
Composed by L.Michelini
Courtesy of Universal Music Publishing Ricordi SRL, Universal Music Taxim Edition

User Reviews

Beautiful in landscape and language.

"You always float to the surface like olive oil." Necla (Demet Akbag)

Although the landscape of Turkey's Anatolia region could have been the center of Winter Sleep, its rugged terrain is not. The heart of this dark world as it prepares for winter is Aydin (Haluk Nilginer), a wealthy landlord and former actor, whose challenges are rent-delinquent commoners and a rebellious young wife, Nihal (Melisa Sozen), who has attained an identity as a seeker of charity for villagers. As his sister suggests above, he has the ability to dominate and set himself apart like olive oil, being nearly lonely with his power.

Almost as if director Nuri Bukge Ceylan had wanted not to recreate Dr. Zhivago, this wintry drama (over 3 hours) is not romantic in a traditional sense: no swelling music, no smothering snow, just characters in close quarters gaining warmth from their fires and from their universal need for love. Even Aydin struggles to understand and shepherd Nihal into his conservative world of judgment and accountability as he forces his way into her charity's books to protect her and probably his fortune.

When a small boy throws a rock at Aydin's car window, a chain of events unleashes to draw together two proud worlds—owner and vassal—to reconcile pride and owed rent. Running parallel is his fight against Nihal's pride and his own paternalistic intrusion into her world, where he can be counted on to snoop.

That's partly because he writes a column in the local newspaper that covers oddities, for Aydin, like a local imam, whose great sin seems to be that he's unkempt and doesn't carry himself like a cleric should. Aydin's sister is there to point out his arrogance and to remind us that even in this remote world human beings can show their pride as well as any American politician.

This Palme d'Or winner at Cannes is as commanding as the best laid thriller except that its dialogue is demanding and its sensibility way out of the ordinary, even for the notoriously distancing Steppes. Winter Sleep is neither cold nor soporific—it is life.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Turkey France Germany

Language:

Turkish English

Release Date:

12 June 2014 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Winter Sleep

Filming Locations:

Cappadoccia, Turkey

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,018,705

Company Credits

Production Co:

NBC Film, Memento Films Production, Bredok Filmproduction

Technical Specs

Runtime:

196 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1