Country: Turkey / Germany
Movie Review: "Mold", Ali Aydin’s auspicious debut on direction, is a joyless drama with a poignant look on hope and perseverance. Taking into account this is his first work, we have to recognize the enormous potentiality shown on different aspects, leading to noteworthy achievements such as Thessaloniki’s special jury prize, and Venice’s Luigi De Laurentiis award. The film depicts the inner torment and restlessness that Basri (Ercan Kesal), a quasi-retired railway guard who works in a small lifeless Anatolian town, carries for 18 years, time when his son mysteriously disappeared in Istanbul, when he was identified as anti-governmental protester. For years, he keeps writing petitions to the authorities, demanding to know if his son is dead or alive, but without practical results. One day, almost like a punishment, he witnesses a woman being raped by a co-worker, Cemil (Tansu Biçer), who after that becomes hostile and threatening. I was touched by the psychological suffocation of Basri, who couldn’t sleep or rest, having lost faith in everything, even in himself. With the help of a policeman who arranges a trip to Istanbul, Basri will have a last chance to find the truth. The brilliant cinematography by Murat Tuncel, a magnificent performance by the experienced Kesal, and Aydin’s pertinent and thoughtful screenplay, formed the essential basis for a very recommended drama, whose serene pace shall not dissuade art-house niches and fans of virtuous international cinema.
