Ceylan's understated central performance is no flattering self-portrait: his Isa has a wry charm, but he's also a self-pitying and patronizing individual with a cruel streak.
Comment
02/06/07
Climates (2006)
71
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:63
Fresh:45
Rotten:18
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: Aesthetically sound and solidly acted, but will nonetheless ring hollow for some viewers.
Theatrical Release:09-02-2007
Synopsis: Stuck in Istanbul and longing for his lost love, professor Isa (Nuri Bilge Ceylan) decides to leave the city and pursue his former girlfriend through wintery climes in this Cannes award-winning film.
Reviews for Climates
Top CriticDress warm for this chilly dissection of the irreconcilable gulf between men and women. Acutely observed, artfully executed, and grimly funny.
02/09/07
Top CriticGoes beyond distant, remote or even far-flung. It is as spare and isolated a movie about a relationship as has been made for many a year.
02/09/07
Top CriticMaking masterly use of sound and image, this is a desperately sad study of the difficulty people have to communicate and commit in an increasingly insular world.
02/07/07
Top CriticThe work of a film-maker who has established absolute mastery over his cinematic idiom.
02/09/07
Top CriticFinds magnificence in the everyday and doesn’t allow one single word or action to stray from a complete vision of what it means to be living and loving today in [director Nuri Bilge] Ceylan’s home city of Istanbul.
10/28/06
Top CriticAs an actor, Ceylan has a lugubrious onscreen charm, but as a director he’s not interested in portraying himself in a flattering light.
02/09/07
Top CriticA masterpiece of craftsmanship that fails completely on the thematic front.
09/27/07
There is an undeniable beauty to some of [director] Ceylan's imagery, but as drama goes, this film is simply too inert for general audience tastes.
05/12/07
A photographer long before he became a director, Ceylan lets his impeccable compositions tell the stories that his sparse dialogue never suggests, and his ambient soundtrack completes the picture.
10/28/06
In this new film, the camera captures the utter need roiling inside its lovers. The prevailing conditions are always subject to change. And whether to move on to newer, better climes seems like a terminal predicament of the soul.
01/05/07
The tightly rolled film contains no melodramatic filler, and Ceylan’s clear-eyed performance is nothing short of brave.
10/29/06
The husband learns nothing, and his monstrous behavior makes the movie relentlessly downbeat.
02/16/07
The beauty of the Turkish film Climates, a small but indelible masterpiece, is more than skin-deep. No 2006 film meant more to me. It's as sharp and lovely as the best Chekhov short stories.
02/15/07
Caylan's utter minimalism leaves one with the feeling, mostly, of frosty dispassion.
11/16/06
The carefully composed exteriors are the only clue to the roiling emotions underneath.
01/26/07
There really isn't much of a story or script to keep you interested beyond the beautiful visuals.
10/24/06
[The] main character spends an inordinate amount of time brooding and staring off into the distance, alternating with scenes of that character's girlfriend brooding and staring off into the distance.
03/09/07
Climates is pretty strong in its performances, but the rather luxurious -- some would say too-slow -- pacing may prove to be off-putting.
03/31/07
As much as I respect Climates, I can sympathize with viewers who will balk at the film's pretensions and glacial pacing.
03/23/07
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