Sibel

This film reminded me of Mustang, another award-winning movie about the oppression of women and other evils of the Turkish countryside. Although the facts regarding this issue is true, cinematic representation of these facts requires literal artistry and Sibel is a total failure in this case.

Technical details aside (dialogues are badly written, acting of the amateurs are slightly better than terrible, while some villagers have strong rural accent, some others speak perfect Istanbul Turkish etc.), the movie has serious flaws from the beginning to the end. The movie aims to depict the condition of women in Turkish countryside, and problematizes the social mechanisms within. However, these social mechanisms are mainly women-borne, so as to say that "a woman is a wolf to other women."

This is the exact point this movie totally fails. Their "goal" for shooting this movie appears to be singling out their "fellows" in these rural communities (those who have potential to be bourgeois, though stuck in the countryside) and motivate them to fight back. Against whom? Against the oppressive women around them, instead of building a feminist consciousness and solidarity altogether.

Apparently this is all because the directors' strong bourgeois codes do not let them get into (and grasp the essence of) the real rural life, so they had no chance but to represent what they already had on their minds about it.

The actress and character are so badass you are left wondering why nobody else around sees that. That's a big part of the irony of this film. Aside from that I cared so deeply for these characters, great direction and storytelling. It was a thrilling journey. I could imagine this being a best foreign film nominee, it was that good!

Damla sönmez.. The woman plays with her eyes. She is impressive and inspiring.

Here is a wonderful, sober little tale of a young girl, Sibel, but not just any young girl. A survivor of segregation. A fond and brave being, full of sensibility and with a compassionate heart that fights for her own voice - the only one that speaks the truth, the only one the world has tried to keep from our befuddled senses. Somewhat introduced as a lost and wild soul, she turns out to be the most dedicated spirited human in her land. Damla Sönmez captures us from start to finish, in a movie that flows through its story in a breath of an absolute and beautiful realism.

Among the many endearing aspects of this movie, one must mention obviously the depiction of a rural society with rules and behaviors so far from ours but beyond that the structure of the story, the visual treatment, the color schemes are very interesting. Whether it is a true representation of the life in a given part of Turkey is not in my view relevant to the interest of the film. The feminist dimension is indeed there, but secondary to the plot.