TURKISH COMING OF AGE TALE EMBRACES FEMALE EMPOWERMENT

Full of spirit, energy and a contagious intimacy, Turkish-born French director Deniz Gamze Erguven’s debut is a beautifully tender portrait of five young sisters not only coming of age, but trying to come into power, despite the strict bonds of their conservative family.
While the Mustang has drawn comparisons to The Virgin Suicides, Erguven’s Oscar-nominated female empowerment drama is suitably less voyeuristic and eliminates the explicit male gaze of its predecessor. Here, the camera is a co-conspirator with the girls, capturing their excitement, fear and shared support with warmth, empathy and embodiment.
The cast of newcomers are extraordinary, capturing the restlessness of youth and the dizziness of desire – for fun, for romance, for touch, for understanding. But as their anxious grandmother and uncle try to repress their spirit and literally contain their bodies, the girls’ world becomes increasingly restricted to their house, what narrator Lale (Gunes Sensoy) describes as a “wife factory”.
David Chizallet’s nimble camera work evokes a lightness and intimacy in the girls’ interactions, while slowly the surrounding environment becomes defined by locks, barred windows and virginity tests. But Erguven makes sure to focus on the beauty of rebellion – Lale’s wild, lionesque hair, the slow rip of a restrictive dress, the exhilarating sensuality of playing in water with local boys.
There’s no moral, cultural or generational reductiveness in Mustang, as Erguven shows the girls’ oppressors also offering them kindness and care. And while the uplifting final act may feel unrealistic, it’s not wish fulfilment but a call to arms; an urging for young women to make noise and make change.
Watch the trailer below!