Love, Spells and All That

Eren and Reyhan fell in love as young women on Büyükada. When their families found out they were separated. Years later Eren, the daughter of a wealthy family, returns to the island and finds Reyhan in a state she did not expect. The two walk the length of the island, talk, and discover that they remember what happened differently. Ümit Ünal writes and directs. Selen Uçer plays Reyhan and Ece Dizdar plays Eren, with Ayşenil Şamlıoğlu, Emrah Kolukısa and Uygar Özçelik. The form is almost entirely a two hander. The narrative is built on a walk; the place changes and the scene is always the same two women and the distance between them. The subject is memory rather than love. Two people remember the same relationship in completely different ways, and the film does not say which is true; the idea of a spell enters there, not as an explanation but as a pretext. Ümit Ünal is known in Turkish cinema for films made with few locations and few characters, and this belongs to that line. It was shown at the Antalya Golden Orange festival in 2019 and released widely in 2021. Selen Uçer won best actress for the part at both Antalya and the Istanbul film festival. Büyükada is not a tourist backdrop here; it is filmed out of season, empty and shut up. Who it is for: viewers who like small cast Turkish independent film and narratives that rest on dialogue. Who it is not for: nothing happens, the film rests entirely on talk, and the fantastical element hangs unresolved for some.