clg238

Brilliant acting, pitch perfect dialogue! Not a film for those who crave action-packed scenes, but rather for those who appreciate an in-depth portrayal of a wounded relationship, in this case between musician father and attorney son. The Turkish music and stunning, stark landscapes provide an amazing backdrop to this novel road film featuring two people in a car for most of it. It's a tour de force, keeping the viewer engaged in a 90-minute or so conversation. Along the way as the car journeys to some small towns, we learn in stunningly economical but evocative scenes about the father's past, with a subtlety that totally eludes even the most serious Hollywood films. That is just part of the magic of Ozcan Alper's directing.

Because I've watched all 3 seasons of Srugim and adored it, I had great difficulty appreciating Soon by You. Srugim deals with a group of young people in Israel who are seeking not only romance but meaning in their life. Soon by You is kind of a parallel series set in New York. However, where Srugim had complicated characters, interesting situations, flawless acting, realistic dialogue, Soon by You has stereotypical characters, the majority of whom are vastly overacting apparently to be funny, and very, very thin plots. I'm sorry to write this--I was hoping for lots better. It's supposed to be a comedy but in watching 4 episodes, I did not even crack a smile. I hope the makers of this series will study Srugim and do lots better next time.

The plot twists and turns are beyond brilliant. They were so powerful I was only able to watch 2 episodes a night at most. The acting is phenomenal--there isn't a false note in the entire series. My only objection to the cast is, oddly enough, the baby, who was badly chosen for the series; the child is often looking away, probably at its true mother or some relative. The settings are beautiful and very interesting, especially to someone who has only been very briefly in Cairo. While I could hardly wait every day to see 2 more episodes, I'm so glad it's over, because too many of them were so haunting I couldn't shake them off easily to think about other things.