Snow and the Bear

A nurse goes to work in a remote Turkish village where a man stalks her and another goes missing.

The story I suppose is okay, it's the slow and ponderous way it is carried out that is not. There's a lot of time nothing is happening but you don't want to fast forward in case you miss something. Also the subtitles were very obviously not an accurate translation so that didn't help.

The lead actress has a very expressive face and did well with the role she had, and indeed there was some decent acting from a few others too. But not near enough to lift the film beyond a rating of 5.

I liked that there wasn't any awful score or crashing soundtrack to the film and the sounds of winter were not overdone.

There's obviously some moral tales woven into this, but they're lost a little by the ponderous pace and slew of non-meaningful scenes.

If you've ever had trouble adjusting to a new job this movie might put that experience into perspective. It's the story of a young nurse who struggles to find her bearings when she's seconded to a remote Turkish village, a struggle made worse when a snowfall prevents the arrival of the visiting doctor. The story unfolds slowly and realistically, simply following her daily activities. She finds the townsfolk as frosty and inaccessible as the landscape, and being inexperienced she doesn't know how to behave, who to trust, nor what is expected of her. Likewise the viewer is left wondering what's going on.

This movie is well worth watching, both for the location and for its unusually subtle approach. The beautiful cinematography adds a lot and I liked the way the town is shown from so many different perspectives as this really added to the sense of disorientation. The ending surprised me but it made sense, and like everything else in the movie it was remarkably understated which only added to its impact. It left me guessing what will happen next.

Snow And The Bear is definitely an adult mystery and more of an art film than a run of the mill drama.

It is beautifully shot and has the lonely and cold atmosphere of a snowey mountain range in the middle of nowwhere which perfectly compliments the solemn story that unfolds.

Its ultimately a mystery about the culture of people living outside of modern civilisation and how an outsider comes to know a different type of existence that is more elemental and closer to nature.

This is a film about lonliness, the wilderness, and how human beings relate to and impact the natural world.

It is also a melancholic tale of self discovery.

It is a well paced, finely told mystery drama. It's in Turkish with subtitles, but I didn't mind that. Personally I enjoyed this film and I hope you will too. :-)

A beautifully haunting film that blends atmospheric mystery with subtle social commentary against an ecological backdrop. Set in a remote, snow-covered Turkish town, the film captures the quiet tension of isolation through stunning cinematography and a slow-burning narrative. Merve Dizdar shines as Asli, a young nurse whose arrival stirs hidden fears and suspicions within the community. Ergun's restrained direction allows the story to unfold with poetic stillness, revealing how fear and tradition can blur the line between myth and reality. It's a quietly powerful film that lingers long after the snow has settled.

A 2022 drama film starring Merve Dizdar and Saygin Soysal, whose script was written by Yesim Aslan and Selcen Ergun...

With her first feature film, after his short films "Gunesli Bir Gun" and "Karsilasma" Ergun takes a busy and big job, but he manages it successfully.

She does not take refuge in the unwritten rule of 'the first film has no sin' and presents his screenplay to the audience in the desired consistency, with both sound design and cinematography.

Yes, if you want to force it critically, you can find the deficiencies, but at the end of the day, when the last credits start to flow, Ergun tells you his problem...

The production, which will meet with the festival audience in Ankara after Antalya and Istanbul, will hopefully be the first of many films that Ergun will shoot.

The professionalism she showed during the Bosphorus Film Festival and the fact that he did not remain silent in the face of fascists is an indication that we will see Ergun's name among names such as Pelin Esmer and Yesim Ustaoglu in the future.