Sibel

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!

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.

In a rural Turkish environment, the film describes for a few days a young mute woman (Sibel) who is rejected by an inhospitable and rough village community, and confronted with customs of another time. The overall result is a little bland: 5/6 of 10.

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 scanrio of this movie was simple but effective,and a motivation for women who has problems in their lifes,also i was shock and wonder by Damla Sonmez acting ,her acting was wonderfull,she is a talanted actress.