Turkish director Pelin Esmer ("Oyun") follows up on her début documentary short "Koleksiyoncu: The Collector" with this full-length feature loosely based on the story of her obsessive collector uncle which has picked up awards at the Istanbul, Altın Koza and Ankara international film festivals as well as a number of foreign awards.
Elderly collector Mithat (Mithat Esmer) and newly arrived concierge Ali (Nejat Isler) find their lonely lives becoming increasingly intertwined with each-other and the city Istanbul itself, which for one exists to be catalogued and for the other is a fearful unknown, as they become the last two inhabitants of a condemned apartment block.
Consummate professional Nejat Isler ("Everything About Mustafa " and "Egg") puts in a subtly nuanced central performance whilst ageing débutante Mithat Esmer looks a bit shaky in places but none-the-less performs admirably in a role based on himself and together the two evolve a convincing and emotive relationship.
The director has cleverly counterbalanced the story of her uncle with that of an equally alienated individual in a way that allows the characters to drive the story in a way still seemingly innovative in Turkish cinema whilst at the same time preventing the all to easy descent into sentimental nostalgia that could have all to easily plagued the production.
"Did it record everything?"
