7 Movies Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

The Town

The Town

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1997-11-28

Languages:

Turkish

Countries:

Turkey

Runtime:

85 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.1 (1997 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Emin Ceylan (story)

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Fullplot:

The story of a family living in a small godforsaken town in Turkey seen through the eyes of children and dealing with the growing complexity when one becomes an adult.

Clouds of May

Clouds of May

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1999-12-10

Languages:

Turkish

Countries:

Turkey

Runtime:

130 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.5 (2473 Reviews)

Genres:

ComedyDrama

Fullplot:

This is a movie within movie, which is almost recursive, i.e., the movie inside looks like director Ceylan's previous movie, Kasaba. It is about the movie director, Muzaffer, going back to his hometown to make a movie using a cast of local people. While Muzaffer is around, his mother complains about simple health problems, his father is in a legal fight against the government for his land, his cousin gets out of his job to help Muzaffer who promises him to find a job in Istanbul, and his little cousin Ali tries to carry an egg in his pocket for 40 days so that he'll get the watch of his dreams. In the meantime, they get to form the cast for Muzaffer's movie as well.

Distant

Distant

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2002-12-20

Languages:

Turkish

Countries:

Turkey

Runtime:

110 min

Rated:

NOT RATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.7 (11758 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Nuri Bilge Ceylan (scenario)

Cemil Kavukèu (additional writing)

Fullplot:

Mahmut, a 40 year old independent photographer, is a "village boy made good" at least professionally in the big city - Istanbul in this case. After his wife leaves him, he falls into an existential crisis. Then comes his cousin Yusuf, who left his native village after a local factory closed down, effectively unemploying over half the local men. He looks to Istanbul for salvation: a job on board a ship sailing abroad, at once exciting and crucial to supporting his family in the desperately poor village. The distance between the two men is apparent at once, and becomes increasingly pronounced. Whereas Mahmut is adusted to big city life and suffers from many of its neuroses, Yusuf is a lonely, excentric country worker with annoying nervous and hygienic habits, and a sick mother back home he must somehow support. This intimate drama was filmed in the director's apartment in Istanbul, using all his furniture, appliances, rooms, car and so on as the film's props. The actor playing Yusuf is actually the director's real-life cousin, and the actor playing Mahmut is an actual friend, a non-professional actor.

Climates

Climates

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2006-10-20

Languages:

Turkish

Countries:

Turkey, France

Runtime:

101 min

Rated:

UNRATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.3 (7576 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Fullplot:

A dowdy university instructor Isa is an inattentive husband to his younger, TV-business wife Bahar. Self-absorbed and selfish, Isa only communicates in the most rudimentary way, while she, similarly, detaches into crying jags and juvenile behavior.

Three Monkeys

Three Monkeys

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2008-10-24

Languages:

Turkish

Countries:

Turkey, France, Italy

Runtime:

109 min

Rated:

UNRATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.4 (13231 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Ebru Ceylan (screenplay)

Ercan Kesal (screenplay)

Nuri Bilge Ceylan (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Near the Bosporus, Eyèp and Hacer live in a modest flat with their son Ismail, in his twenties, who's doing poorly in his studies. Few words pass between them, and a past family tragedy brings sorrow daily. On a rainy night, Eyèp's boss Servet, a wealthy businessman who's entering politics, hits a pedestrian on a lonely road. He drives off and offers money to Eyèp if Eyèp will take the fall - probably a six-month sentence. Eyèp agrees, and while he's in prison, Ismail wants his mother to ask Servet for enough money to buy a car. Servet, in turn, desires Hacer. How can this play out?

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2011-09-23

Languages:

Turkish

Countries:

Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Runtime:

157 min

Rated:

NOT RATED

IMDB Ratings:

7.8 (23968 Reviews)

Genres:

CrimeDrama

Cast:

Writer:

Ebru Ceylan

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Ercan Kesal

Fullplot:

In the rural area around the Anatolian town of Keskin, the local prosecutor, police commissar, and doctor lead a search for a victim of a murder to whom a suspect named Kenan and his mentally challenged brother confessed. However, the search is proving more difficult than expected as Kenan is fuzzy as to the body's exact location. As the group continues looking, its members can't help but chat among themselves about both trivia and their deepest concerns in an investigation that is proving more trying than any of them expected.

Winter Sleep

Winter Sleep

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2014-06-13

Languages:

Turkish, English

Countries:

Turkey, Germany, France

Runtime:

196 min

IMDB Ratings:

8.3 (19960 Reviews)

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Ebru Ceylan

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Anton Chekhov (inspired from short stories by)

Fullplot:

Aydin, a former actor, runs a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife Nihal with whom he has a stormy relationship and his sister Necla who is suffering from her recent divorce. In winter as the snow begins to fall, the hotel turns into a shelter but also an inescapable place that fuels their animosities...

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