The Wild Pear Tree

Sinan is about to become a teacher, a profession which, in Turkey, gives high social status and is associated with certain academic capabilities. Before his final exams, he decides to visit his family in the provincial coastal town of Çanakkale. His father Idris, himself a teacher, has turned to gambling whilst also being dead set on digging a well in his own father's garden. His mother Asuman is heavily depressed, and spends her days watching TV soap operas, whereas his sister Yasemin dreams of leaving Çanakkale just like Sinan.

The Wild Pear Tree is structured in the form of a series of conversations, or rather arguments, between Sinan and different townspeople. He has returned to Çanakkale with a certain haughtiness and arrogance that leads him into discussions with his childhood sweatheart, two imams, and a local author. After winning the Palme D'Or for his previous film, the master piece Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan follows suit with an equally hypnotic and elaborately constructed narrative. The Wild Pear Tree is gripping and witty, and will seduce you with its beautiful visual compositions and glowing palette. TF

Nuri Bilge Ceylan (b. 1959) is Turkey's foremost living filmmaker. He studied chemistry and electronichs before switching to film studies. His first short film Koza (1995) screened at the Cannes festival, where he has become something of a regular. Over the years, many of his films have screened at Films from the South.