Three Monkeys by Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Turkish Thriller With Picturesque Settings Of Malice and Mayhem
Apr 27, 2009
Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan began his creative life as a photographer; and the challenge for photographers who want to become film makers is letting go of the notion that an entire story can be told within a single image.
24 Frames Per Second
A film maker has to tell a story in several interlocking pictures, or frames, in motion and still. It’s a similar dilemma faced by the poet that wishes to write a short story or a novel. When your mind is geared toward telling a story within a few lines, it is very difficult to even comprehend the expansive concept.
One thing is assured, great photographers may not always make for great film makers, but, even in failure, their films will be masterfully shot; and therefore great to look at. When a photographer/film maker is able to find the happy medium between the visual and the written word, then something special is bound to result.
If awards are any indication, Mr. Ceylan has succeeded in his transition; having won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 2002 for his third feature Distant (Uzak); as well as ample praise for his other films: Cocoon (1995), Small Town (1998), Clouds of May (2000), and Climates (2006). Three Monkeys is further evidence of an artist who truly can tell a story at 24 frames per second.
An Amoral Politician in Silhouette
The film begins with a very Hitchcockian opening sequence; a young couple driving through the night, in the half-lit countryside, come upon a body lying in the road. While the two fret over what action to take, the silhouette of a man enters the foreground, breathing deeply, clearly hiding from view. The couple leave; the silhouetted man emerges from the shadows, looks toward the horizon where the young couple disappear; thunder rumbles; the man jumps into his car and drives off into the abyss. A final shot of the body is displayed, as the rain falls down; cut to the title card: Three Monkeys.
The silhouetted man turns out to be a politician named Servet (Ercan Kesal) who can’t afford to be brought down by such a scandal (as if anyone could afford such a fate). So, he asks his driver and man-servant Eyüp (Yavuz Bingol) to take the fall; claim credit for the crime; and he will be handsomely rewarded when he is released from jail in a years time.
Even though he has a beautiful, over-worked wife, Hacer (Hatice Aslan), and a son, Ismail (Rifat Sungar) headed in the wrong direction with the wrong crowd, Eyüp accepts the deal and is soon sent away to jail.
The deal solves the amoral politician’s immediate problem, and secures his facade as a husband and father. But, the repercussions from the event will impact the patsy, Eyüp, and his wife and son, almost immediately.
Three Monkeys/Strangers On A Train
Written by Nuri Bilge Ceylan and his wife Ebru, along with Ercan Kesal, Three Monkeys is one of those thrillers upon which Alfred Hitchcock made his career; like Strangers on a Train, a single decision is made by one person, resulting in a domino effect of cascading malice.
Mr. Ceylan’s gorgeous photography as shot by his cinematographer Gökhan Tiryaki is perfectly executed; and lends to the mounting tension between the wife and the politician; and the son and the politician; thereby the mother and son. Neither son or wife know about the deal Eyüp struck with his boss; but, this does not prevent the four from being entangled.
Not all the creative choices director Ceylan make are good; specifically, the ghost of Ismail’s little brother that appears throughout, in the form of a purplish, emaciated, creeping, crawling spook, right out of a Japanese horror film; it comes off as a bit contrived for a psychological thriller.
Fade To Black
Three Monkeys compels the viewer all the way to the end, or rather, until the end. The climax is clever, but unconvincing. But, the journey is an absolute pleasure, thanks to Ceylan’s skill as a film maker; but also the acting; in particular, Hatice Aslan as the wife, who must navigate some pretty tricky emotional waters; and the son played by Rifat Sungar, showing his prowess, with the eyebrows and angst of American actor Adrien Brody.
And as would be expected in a film made by a photographer, the final shot is a stunner: a man stands atop a ramshackle building looking out on a dark, ominous horizon; thunder rolls; a train runs in from the left side of the screen, and appears to enter the side of the building; fade to black.
Take a look at some of Nuri Bilge Ceylan's amazing photography.
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