It's a three-hour search for meaning in life in modern times in Can and Canakkale, in far western Turkey. It follows a recent male college graduate returning home to a family slowly disintegrating because of the father's gambling problem.
Sinan Karasu (Dogu Demirkol) is a recent college graduate at loose ends. He is considering a school teaching career. His father, Idris (Murat Cemcir), was once a respected school teacher but is addicted to gambling, putting the family's future in doubt. Sinan's mother, Asuman (Bennu Yildirimlar), and sister, Yasemin (Asena Keskinci), are ambivalent about Idris. Sinan's grandfather (Tamer Levent) is a respected but retired imam.
Idris dreamed of raising sheep in the hills above his grandfather's house. Sinan wants to have a manuscript he's written containing observations on local culture, including his family, published but struggles to find the means to do so. Along the way, he has lengthy conversations with a thriving local author, Süleyman (Serkan Keskin), and two young imams (Ahmet Rifat Sungar and Öner Erkan). His discussions are unempathetic and cynical. By the film's end, he has circled back to the beginning of his quest, perhaps a little wiser, but may not.
"The Wild Pear Tree" is longwinded on culture, the nature of faith, and relationships. Sinan's character is very unlikeable. The cinematography is lovely, but I found the movie endless and without a destination. The sense that Sinan reflected something of me at his age was also an unhappy problem for me.
I don't understand the high praise for the film.
Sinan Karasu (Dogu Demirkol) is a recent college graduate at loose ends. He is considering a school teaching career. His father, Idris (Murat Cemcir), was once a respected school teacher but is addicted to gambling, putting the family's future in doubt. Sinan's mother, Asuman (Bennu Yildirimlar), and sister, Yasemin (Asena Keskinci), are ambivalent about Idris. Sinan's grandfather (Tamer Levent) is a respected but retired imam.
Idris dreamed of raising sheep in the hills above his grandfather's house. Sinan wants to have a manuscript he's written containing observations on local culture, including his family, published but struggles to find the means to do so. Along the way, he has lengthy conversations with a thriving local author, Süleyman (Serkan Keskin), and two young imams (Ahmet Rifat Sungar and Öner Erkan). His discussions are unempathetic and cynical. By the film's end, he has circled back to the beginning of his quest, perhaps a little wiser, but may not.
"The Wild Pear Tree" is longwinded on culture, the nature of faith, and relationships. Sinan's character is very unlikeable. The cinematography is lovely, but I found the movie endless and without a destination. The sense that Sinan reflected something of me at his age was also an unhappy problem for me.
I don't understand the high praise for the film.