Yumurta

Actually the movie is in a natural life perspective. I'm sure that the movie inspired Manchester By The Sea because it was produced in 2007. The starring man Nejat Isler is one of the best sample of Turkish act and definitely he would win an Oscar only he were an American.

Egg is one of those films which can be called either boring or meditative, depending on which end of the spectrum you are at. The first scene itself should separate these two disparate groups. A woman walks past a murky landscape in towards the camera and then walks out. It is a terribly slow scene. As the film moves forward you get a clearer understanding of that scene and it appears as a very important part of the experience.

The story follows a man who returns to his village after his mother dies. He has been so long away that he doesn't know the girl who looked after his mother. He is eager to get away from the village and its many associated memories. He wants to keep his distance, but cannot.

This is a very poignant little film. Depending on the sort of viewer it has, it demands varying levels of patience.

It's interesting to read comments made on YUMURTA (EGG) in isolation from the other two films in the trilogy, SÜT (2009) and BAL (2010). Although the first-released of the three, YUMURTA is temporally the last, telling of the adolescent Yusuf (Nejat İsler), who has been reduced to becoming a secondhand bookseller in İstanbul. Whereas once he had a promising career as a writer (alluded to in SÜT and referred to again in YUMURTA), he has neither enjoyed the luck nor the inspiration to pursue his chosen career. Hence he becomes vicariously involved with literature by purveying it.

Yusuf's life receives a sudden jolt when he learns of the death of his mother Zehra (Semra Kaplanoğlu). He returns to his childhood home of Tire in the west of Turkey, and experiences ambivalent feelings about the return. In the past he had always vowed to leave, but once he encounters Ayla (Saadet Aksoy), the teenage daughter of his uncle, Yusuf begins to feel more ambivalent about himself and his position in life. The ending represents a complete volte-face from the beginning; Yusuf might not necessarily be happy in the future, but he has acted according to his inclinations, something that he had abandoned during his move to İstanbul.

Kaplanoğlu's film incorporates several striking images, notably the sight of Zehra moving towards and away from a static camera, suggesting an engagement with and a deliberate flight from life. There are frequent shots where the protagonists are viewed as specks on the vast rural landscape, drawing our attention to their insignificance in the overall scheme of things. If this is the case, then we should try to make the best of what we have, rather than trying to pursue unfocused dreams.

YUMURTA also makes a lot of rituals and their significance: despite his obvious squeamishness, Yusuf has to observe Zehra's dying wish of sacrificing a ram to God, if only to acknowledge the extent of divine power. The egg is also important: when Yusuf cracks one open early on in the film, nature reacts in an unexpected way. However, once he has learned to come to terms with his world, he understands the connection between the egg and life; it is something to be treasured, not broken.

Beautifully photographed and structured with a deep connection to the environment, YUMURTA offers a satisfying and powerful coda to Kaplanoğlu's trilogy.

The problem with Egg is not that it is rotten. It is not. It is just that it does not feel organic. The director's own admission that he is interested in film-making as an exercise in philosophy is evident in every scene. However, those that need a lesson in elementary existentialism will be bored by the film and those that would not mind a bit of thinking for thinking's sake will be bored by it, too – for different reasons. The lonely poet that left his roots but couldn't grow new ones goes back home because mom dies… Then, he looks at the young woman that never left and smiles to himself knowingly. Then, he looks at the confused young man that looks at the same young woman and he smiles to himself knowingly, again… Then he faints, then he is stopped by a big dog from leaving the village and then…

Nothing. See, it is all about the post-Sartre, tainted with Camus but no need for violence thingy. The universe, like, has no innate meaning other than the one we give to it – like, egg, get it? When I grow up, I will become a nihilist, but for now I believe in nothing much…

It is still watchable. For one thing, it has Nejat Isler, the actor that is fast proving himself as one of the best thespians of his generation in Turkey. In the flawed but much more meaningful film, Barda, he was a mesmerising presence, doing a lot with some that was written for him. Here, he does a lot with nothing. The issue is that doing a lot with nothing still comes to nothing. We feel for him when he cries, but also feel like slapping him in the face: Get over it, buddy, this wasn't all that interesting even when Antonioni made Marcello do it…

My two pennies for the director – you got the cinematography right, you got the actors under control, sound is above average… How about some story for the next one?

Yusuf was selling old books in a city. He learned that his mother living in a small town was dead and he returned to his hometown to join the funeral. After the funeral he was planning to return city but with unexpected events, he stayed in the village 2 days more.

Scenorio is boring and suffering from lack of communications. Cinematography (composition-light-sountrack) is not successful. I watched the film till end, for the sake of my movie love.

I couldn't realize the reasons that juries gave the national and international awards to this film.

In summary there very successful films from Turkey, gaining awards all over the world and are really joyful.