Febiofest 2016 review - Balkan Beats - BEFORE SUNRISE

Directed by - Murat Eroglu (Turkey)

The similarities between Richard Linklater's film by the same name and this Turkish drama begin and end with the title alone. Murat Eroglu's Before Sunrise is the story of a man and his 12-year-old son living in a shabby home and working, technically illegally, in the sometimes dangerous Turkish street market, where everyone seems to make their own rules. Central to the story is the relationship between the father and the son, but the film also examines some of the more touching aspects of its harsh setting, including the comraderie between the leading male and his colleagues, explored in the scenes where they take a break, sit together, drink tea, smoke cigarettes, joke and talk about their private lives. 

Eroglu's film embraces a realistic approach, only occasionally interrupted by the poetic interferences of the notes of a melancholic piano playing tunes by Chopin and Satie, creating a charming contrast between the roughness of the setting and the intimate, poignant beauty of the music. But the realism is not only conveyed by the cinematography that seems influenced by a documentary style of filmmaking with its handheld camerawork. It is also reflected in the storyline itself. Throughout the film's duration, in fact, many events take place. One of these, a particularly important one, sees the father and son's cart being stolen. But the story does not become dependant on this one event, though it maintains its role as a key reoccurring element. Overall, in the wider scheme and intentions of the original vision, it seems to be waved off as something that could happen, that it is no use to be crying over, and that it should not get in the way of carrying on with the work and earning some money. In other words, the film is keen on depicting a day in the life of these people, more than constructing a film in a more traditionalist and conventional nicely rounded narrative arch with a beginning, a middle and an end. 

There are a few drawbacks. Because of the film's embracing of realism, it seems to accept some of the things it portrays more than it tries to understand them. This may cause some members of a more international audience to not fully familiarize with some of its more subtle aspects, thus lessening Before Sunrise's impact in the process. There are also some imperfections in the style that are just distracting. The construction of the cinematography can be inconsistent, and some of the handheld shot contrast awkwardly with more still ones. Problems in the audio mixing and editing lead to the levels being all over the place all to evidently.