What it’s about
In Cappadocia in Central Anatolia, Aydin (Bilginer) runs Hotel Othello, a picturesque establishment cut into the stunning rock formations. A former theater actor, Aydin writes columns for a local paper, comfortably living off his many properties. An altercation with a tenant (Kilic) upsets his routine and drives a wedge into his relationship with his divorced sister Necla (Akbag), and much younger wife Nihal (Sozen).
Why we love it
Winner of the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, this long, talky yet searing character study encompasses both the intimate and the epic. Using the striking beauty of the countryside as dramatic relief, Ceylan spotlights the human condition in exploring the conflicted personality of one man. Bilginer is by turns engaging and repellent as the arrogant hotel owner whose belief in his own moral superiority makes him blind to those around him. Co-written with his wife Ebru, Ceylan has crafted a Chekhovian story of acute poignancy and insight.