Yozgat Blues

Mahmut Fazil Coskun's 2013 film follows Yavuz, who sings in a shopping centre in Ankara, and Nese, who begins performing with him. The two set out to work at a small music hall in Yozgat. There they meet a barber named Sabri, and a quiet tension develops among the three. The film builds a structure in which no character gets what they want. Yavuz wants to be a performer but his talent is limited, Nese wants to build a life but has no means, Sabri falls in love but has no language for saying so. The film holds all three forms of helplessness on the same plane. The humour is dry and comes out of embarrassment. Ercan Kesal's Sabri is its most affecting element. The visual language is plain; the provincial scenes are not prettified and the interior is built out of the hall's own light. Who it's for: those who like quiet provincial drama and dry humour in Turkish cinema. Who it's not for: viewers waiting for incident and resolution; the film completes none of its stories.