Tim Kidner Nuri Bilge Ceylan's relationship dramas are loved by the critics, who can see all that pure unadulterated misery in all its perfectly shot scrutiny. They can revel in its rawness and honesty.For the rest of us, who've got our own problems to think about and contend with, having someone's else's graphically thrust upon us for near two hours is just a bit much. I'd bought his previous 'Uzak' on DVD, believing it to be the best film of the year. It wasn't - and isn't.I watched 'Climates' on late night TV because I should, because critics and those that "get" Ceylan tell us we should. And just to prove my preconceived idea that I won't like it, wrong. I'm finding the characters no more agreeable - one asks if such dissatisfied people actually deserve loving partners the way they behave.It's not all total misery, of course. There are bits that should be applauded. As others have said, the cinematography, for instance. The beach scene at the beginning with its selective focus is superbly done (I'm a photographer myself, so can appreciate).Whilst it would be against his style and selfish of me to expect Ceylan to jolly up his films - there is almost no incidental music, for instance - I'm sure a few would wish he did. That he won't and I wouldn't expect him to, I could simply just not watch his films. But, there is always that nagging feeling that I'm missing out if I don't.

FilmCriticLalitRao By making "Iklimler/seasons",one can guess that Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan wishes to suggest that why should one bother about Turkish bourgeoisie ? These days globalization ensures that more and more bourgeois societies are created.Does that mean that hapless viewers must bear severe punishment of seeing aimless lives of bourgeois people ? There are not many viewers who know that great Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene snubbed an inefficient African bourgeois in his masterpiece film "Xala".His film is about an African man who imported mineral water to wash his car.This kind of frivolity is what one can expect from bourgeois people whether from Africa or Turkey.In the same manner why should one care about bourgeoisie in Turkey whether they buy an expensive coat in London or setup an advertisement agency in Kazakhstan.Everybody is aware of the fact that actions of bourgeoisie are not going to heal the world.There are golden moments of silence in the games of young bourgeois people based in Turkey.Apart from being a professional director,Nuri Bilge Ceylan has made himself known as a shrewd businessman as he has put all members of his family in front of camera including his old parents.This is one of the best examples of cinematographic narcissism in recent times.It is really a pity that even the presence of a character named Bahar/spring does not really bring any freshness to this film.All viewers must question why should anybody blame seasons for irresponsible behavior ? We are all aware of the fact that due to global warming there would be bad weather for everyone.Does that mean that even bourgeois morals are going to be affected ? My last word is that one must see this film only for its photography.

frankenbenz The films of Michelangelo Antonioni will either bore you to death or captivate you in the most subtle of ways. I fall into the latter category and am profoundly influenced by his work and the filmic conventions integral to them. It was my discovery of Antonioni's work that led to my discovery of New German Cinema, both of which ultimately shaped the way I watched and interpreted films. Brought up on a steady diet of Hollywood movies, I was conditioned to be a passive viewer, one swept away by movies made solely for entertainment purposes. In many ways I still am that little boy who gets lost in the fantasy world on the silver screen, but as an adult I've learned the films that truly make me feel alive are the ones forcing me to be an active participant in what is being projected before me. In other words, films that challenge me by asking questions in lieu of providing absolutes.Nuri Bilge Ceylan's is an Antonioni disciple and his 2006 film Climates is unmistakably an Antonioni clone. From the story of a couple's dissolving relationship on vacation (one part L'Avventura one part La Notte) right down to the compositions of every shot and the very deliberate pacing, Ceylan wears his influence with pride. Cinematographer Gokhan Tiryaki beautifully frames every shot, where the meticulous compositions are allowed to play out in patient long takes. As it is with Antonioni's films, the minimal use of editing allows the viewer to study things they normally wouldn't get a chance to even consider. Things like landscape, diegetic sounds and subtleties expressed by the actors, all take on heightened significance where, ultimately, this minutiae plays a crucial role filling in the blanks predominant throughout the film. In other words, films like Ceylan's and Antonioni's challenge their viewers to think, to read between the lines and to actively search for context, meaning and subtext within every frame of their films. As much as I love to revisit the thrills of my youth with standard Hollywood fare, nothing bests a filmgoing experience where I'm not only expected to think and feel as an adult, but am forced to act like one. What an interesting world we'd live in if the blockbusters were all films designed for adults.http://eattheblinds.blogspot.com/

vandenbu This film, beautiful to see, was a wonderful character study. Slow, but that was part of the charm. Perhaps Bergman inspired some of it. But this was better than Bergman as far as I was concerned. I think it dealt with changing gender relations in current modernizing Turkey as well-- in ways that were not at all simplistic. The metaphor of the seasons behind the narrative is compelling, but does not dominate. The women's characters were well drawn. In some ways, the woman we expect to be the most independent is not completely so. The woman who does achieve independence is remarkably feminine at the same time. So good, I had to see it again. It didn't lose anything at all on second viewing.