Climates (Ikilimer)

Like Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s award winning Distant, Climates reminds us that Iran is Turkey’s neighbour to the east. Bearing far more resemblance to the languid rhythms of Iranian cinema than Head On or other recent emanations from the Turkish new wave, Climates charts the slow, painful dissolution of a marriage. More bravely unsentimental than the similarly themed 5x2, even Ceylan’s gorgeous seasonal tableaux – a Russian winter, a glaring late summer – can’t undo the sense of hopelessness. A dinner party ends in cringing disaster. A motorbike ride ends in a half-hearted murder attempt. As the cold protagonist (Ceylan, an impressive multi-tasker) seeks refuge in a former lover, the grunting sex seems to suggest that it is better to have not loved at all than to have loved and lost. If only this devastating conclusion had been tempered by the same humour found in Distant, Climates might have been a classic.