A Caixa de Pandora

Don't ask me what Heidegger has to do with a European co-production by Turkish director Yesim Ustaoglu, winner of Golden Seashell at San Sebastian with Pandora's Box. The film depicts the story of aging and Alzheimer diseased Nusret (Tsilla Chelton who acts superb) a cute and sweet curse. One day she is lost in the mountain where she lives alone. They say there is no country for old men:) in modern society! Nusret's disappearance puts her children Nesrin, Guzin and Mehmet (all lost in their city-life, who is lost then? Mother or her children?) on a journey to their native country. En route, the pandora's box of the family is opened, and their life shall not be the same again. They find the mother and take her with them to Istanbul. But Nusret suffering Alzheimer gives them every sort of difficulty. Believe me it is difficult, I can tell this as someone who has similar experiences in his family. This side of human experience is strange! And you know what: an ancient philosopher Philo says ''Why should we not call madness death, seeing that by it mind dies, the noblest part of us?". Shame on him, I say, if he meant what he said! In Istanbul, Nusret longs for the mountains back in her home, she is like a nightingale in a golden cage, as it is said. She is not the only one feeling like this in the circuits of nihilistic life. There grows an understanding and communication between her and her grandson Murat, a most unlikely friendship in a way. Nusret with her hurricane like nature, with her Alzheimer and with her longing for the mountains plays the final act of her personal existential drama to teach a lesson to sons, and daughters, and grandsons, and to all of us! Nothing nots.. Listen to a certain song of Turkish rock-band DUMAN before you watch the film! Read Heidegger or Derrida of hedgehogs.. You gonna love this film, if you get what I mean! 8 out of 10. Highly recommended...

Pandora's Box must be kept closed. Once it is opened nothing is the same anymore. When Nusret joins the lives of her children in a most unexpected way, the status quo balancing the relationships of the three siblings changes drastically. Apparently it is Nesrin, whose story we mainly watch. None of her relations as a wife, a mother, a daughter and a sister are in a healthy condition. But through the narrative we find out that she was and still is the most responsible one of the three siblings. Also she cares a lot for her son, who apparently studies in a costly private university. Compared to Güzin, who is already a pathetic looser, Nesrin should have been the more successful sister with her marriage and motherhood. But she has got an obsessive instinct for control, stemming from her feeling of perfectness. She doesn't lie like Güzin or she is hardworking and prudent unlike Mehmet. This righteousness ego even allows her to intrude into her son's private sphere, because what she does is the right thing and serves to the good of everyone in the last analysis. Murat is not an evil guy or something. His encounter with the thief on the street just reflects that he is a normal person just like everyone. He is afraid of violence and death. Probably in his early twenties, he just tries to escape and Mehmet's lodge is apparently a suitable hermitage. The cutest irony of the movie is the comfortable friendship of Murat with her grandmother he didn't know before. Named after her deceased husband, Nusret really enjoys asking Murat's name again and again. Finally she is happy to have her companion. Anyway the meaningless life in the city is not worth to live for Nusret, especially when she must be the prisoner in an apartment house surrounded by concrete or in a nursing home. Although being considered as useless by her mother, it is only Murat who realizes that Nusret deserves more than that. The story is full with sad things and a happy end is arguable. The Alzheimer theme is unpleasant for the audience and it reminds one the death of parents as well as one's own. Maybe the only remedy to feel happy right after watching this movie is to adopt Mehmet's nihilism.

For the first comment, you said only the french actress who played the role of the old lady does justice to this movie, I completely disagree. It seems like you put an excessive amount of emphasis on the development of characters as opposed to the storyline and meaning of the movie. First of all, Chelton is supposed to be the central character in this movie while all the other characters play the supporting role. So it goes without saying that she is obliged to outshine the other characters. In my opinion, this is a very well-rounded, touching movie with deep messages. It paints a balancing, beautiful portrait of life in both metropolitan and rural Turkey. It is one of the better foreign movies I have seen in recent years. Each character's performance is so real and down-to-earth that the whole movie feels like a real-life drama, albeit a profound one. One thing I want to add is that this movie never indulges in sexuality like many other foreign movies do so it elevates itself to a higher, more artistic level.

I don't know what Pandora's Box is here, maybe grandma's illness is blowing the siblings' problems wide open. Which it does. And this is most likely an unpopular opinion, but I liked the unpopular sister the most. The others are just selfish and self-involved. She is the one who sacrifices herself for family and of course these people are never popular with others because they never come across as likeable. How could you when you're trying to take care of people against their will and chastising them for living the way they want instead of the way they "should"? Nersin is unhappy herself, in a failed marriage, with a nearly delinquent son who hates her and probably got all the opportunities money can afford, but he won't have any, a sister who clearly dislikes her because she feels judged for her choices and a deadbeat brother who is hopeless, but proud of his lifestyle.

So going after grandma and taking care of grandma exposes all these people for who they are. I liked grandma's few moments of lucidity when she reveals painful truths about her family and her true feelings. Her innocent blue eyes and that big white hair, looking at you with the wonder of a child almost.

I am torn about Murat. He has all the obnoxious entitlement of youth and the way that he rejects and speaks to his parents is very hurtful. His obstinate refusal of the opportunities his father provides and the bad choices he makes instead can only be a sign of immaturity. He openly disrespects his mother. But somehow he gets attached to grandma and surprisingly he is able to care for her. And make an impossible choice for her sake. The ending scene is the best.

I loved all the parts in the mountains and the rustic house. Surprised it has running water though. You'll never find that in Romania.