Part 4
As we agreed at the meeting, we met with Holoflix, Exaturk, and Inspiron digital platforms for the screening of the film. Holoflix executives have directly rejected us by merely expressing their acceptance of domestic movies produced on The Abyss platform. Exaturk offered us a low price on the assumption that we were in need, which we turned down without thinking. Inspiron was the only digital platform we could achieve the desired result. When our application to the Ministry of Culture was concluded, we were able to begin the shootings of 'Sand, Ash, and Carnation' on the date we planned.
I was more nervous during the filming than I was in any previous film. I have reflected my anxious mood to the set team and the players as well so that Timur had to pull me over and warn me. Timur was right as usual, as my son Ilke has repeatedly stated when it comes to my art, I see nothing. The next day I apologized to the robot camera operators, the sound engineer and the child actor, who I unintentionally broke their heart. The emotional relief we experienced as a team coincided with the scene where the film's child heroine meets her mother.
I don't know if it was a play by my subconscious or a complete coincidence, but this change in our moods reflected in the scene where the child was reunited with his mother, making a serious contribution to the film's credibility.
'Sand, Ash, and Carnation' was able to get into vision in just a fifth of cinemas across the country, attracting interest below what we had expected. When we got our first box office results, Timur would almost cry. He kept repeating his children's needs like parrots, vowing that he would quit the cinema. I said the film we shot would be a worldwide classic, but he didn't believe me. I wasn't sure about the movie either. Sometimes I thought the film was the best I had ever shot; sometimes I doubted its value. Reactions from my fellow filmmakers watching the film were mixed; some said they were in love with the film, and those who said they found it annoying.
A week after the film was released, Ihsan Mufit Aktaş's critique article about the film was published in Cinema Magazine. After a short, unsuccessful directorial career, Ihsan became a film critic and criticized movies he did not like with great skill. I reflected the article on the wall of my hall and began to read with great curiosity.
The Child Within Us
I'm getting old, fellas. As people age, the likelihood of being surprised by new things decreases. I'm not interested in technological toys either, nor is Shakespeare's play Hamlet being played in theaters for the thousandth time. In this life, nothing but the movies gave me peace. Unfortunately, I'm getting tired of cinema too.
You can say why you're telling us all this. You can even consider these comments as the whim of a film critic who is becoming childish as he ages.
At a time when all the films are alike because of artificial intelligence consultants, I have to say in advance that Tunç Sezer's last film, 'Sand, Ash, and Carnation,' sounds like medicine to me. I remembered why I loved the art of cinema while watching the movie and walked out of the hall with a happy smile on my face. The Film continued to resonate in my mind throughout the day like all the other great works I've seen before.
'Sand, Ash, and Carnation' has a relatively simple story. Samet's mother needs to take her father to Ankara for treatment. His family leaves him to his aunt to prevent him from spending time in the hospital. The house where his aunt and brother-in-law live is just off the coast of a wooded area that runs down a slight slope to the beach. Born and raised in the city, Samet initially shows no interest in his surroundings, spending his time playing games with augmented reality glasses and watching holographic films. After their little trip with his brother-in-law, Samet slowly begins to get attracted to nature. He spends his days in the woods and on the beach trying to get to know his surroundings while he experiences the agony of not being around his mother.
I don't like films that are slowly paced, forced to be ‘artistic.’ I was the persona non grata of the cinema world for a while because I didn't avoid expressing my views on these kinds of works. I loved this minimalist film of Tunç Sezer with little dialogue and no action.
Tunç Sezer used gradients, such as the natural sounds, smells, and visual effects carefully. I would say that this measured attitude also applies to the exquisite landscapes the film contains.
During the Film, I was never bored as I watched the light bundles formed while Samet looked at the sunlight, the wiggling shadows of the leaves, the wind flickering of the bushes, the panicle clouds forming on the horizon, the bubbling foam of the seawater, the sea that stopped in the afternoon, the shadows that lengthened as the sun went down, and I must also admit that I am filled with peace as I listen to the rumble of the forest, the sigh of the sea and the rustling of pebbles.
While watching the film, I, like Samet, got a great deal of enthusiasm because of the sparks scattered from the fire on the beach, the twists of the sea minarets and the colorful pebbles. I drew with Samet the smell of wet soil, mown grass, fresh bread from the oven, and basil in the garden.
The Dolphins Samet projected onto the sea in his augmented reality glasses, the birds he put on tree branches, and the soldiers he placed inside his sandcastle were other items I liked about the film.
Of course, I noticed the film's prosaic dialogues, music incompatible with visual quality and continuity problems. Despite the flaws I mentioned, I gave a full note to 'Sand, Ash, and Carnation' because of its deep sensitivity, classic fiction, and the way it took me back to my childhood.
Be nice to the child in you, my friends. Stay healthy.
Image Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/jH19kC1f45I