Grain (2017)

	Also Known As: La particule humaine
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Semih Kaplanoglu
	Actors: Jean-Marc Barr, Ermin Bravo
	Country: TR, D, F, S, Q
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 16.04.2018, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, English version with German subtitle
Synopsis: In an undefined near future, Professor Erol Erin (Barr), a seed geneticist, lives in a city protected from multi-ethnic immigrants by magnetic walls. For unknown reasons, the city’s agricultural plantations have been hit by a genetic crisis. In a meeting at the headquarters of Novus Vita, the corporation which employs him, Erol hears about Cemil Akman (Bravo), a fellow geneticist who wrote a thesis about the recurrent crises affecting genetically modified seeds. Erol sets out on a journey to find him.
Review: On the paper the story makes sense and sounds interesting (imdb or allocine). By watching just the movie, I would not say it deals with migration, even if some images at the beginning show a border like in Ceuta or Mexico/USA. I would not say it deals with corporation, even if we see people working in Novus Vita who have a controlling view on the biology, like we all suspect about Monsanto, Bayer and Syngenta. I do not really know how to describe the story apart from a guy following another one without much talking and with a kind of untold admiration. A kind of initiation in a spartan and rather ecological way of life. There is no much emotion in the movie apart from what the sceneries gives. Therefore the acting is difficult to appreciate. Having a black&white picture helps a lot in having beautiful sceneries, portraits and picture in general. A poetic movie could have been the result, but it is not by lack of lyrism and of dialogues. Jean-Marc Barr fans may get a poetic impression of the movie because this guy looks peaceful and poetic by himself. The movie may attract many people due to the critics it got, but disappoint them because of the lack of story and of poesie.
Rating: 4 /10

Kis uykusu (2014)

	Also Known As: Winter sleep
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
	Actors: Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen, Demet Akbag
	Country: TR
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 25.09.2014, Victoria Eugenia Theater, FSSDZ2014, Turkish with Spanish/English subtitles
Synopsis: Aydin (Bilginer) runs a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife Nihal (Sözen) with whom he has a stormy relationship and his sister Necla (Akbag) 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 bitterness.
Review: The story is based on daily life dialogues tha are not cut or summarized or distorted to have more emotion. All the dialogues are precise and finallz all important. It is the kind of dialogues that we have with the familz members, with the girlfriend, in which the knowledge of the other goes a real step forward. The story is a bit like the main character, a bit pretentious about explaining how is life and how it should be driven. It was fine for me, because I just took it for information. And not to get bored after 3 hours of dialogues means that these must have been very interesting. Nevertheless the whole story is actually basic, about guilt, about living together, about working together, about expectations towards the neighbour, towards the family.  The complete photography (light, image composition, subject, movement of people, movement of camera) is beautiful. The light is always tempered to give a warm or cold atmosphere enhancing the story. The image composition tried either to get a balance in colours, light and layers or to give a strong biais again to enhance the story. I understand why this got the Palme d'or in Cannes.
Rating: 7 /10