Moving over to Wordpress

It's been a while since I last posted on here, and while I've picked up blogging again, time calls for a fresh start. If you want to read my new posts, please head on over to https://ysolmaz.wordpress.com/ to follow me there. I promise, it's prettier than this. :)

See you on the other side!

"What did I do wrong?"

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) - dir. Lynne Ramsay - 5 stars

It is ironic that the film's title is never ever uttered; none of the characters ever feel the emotional or psychological strength to ask this question. But it is, after all, what is constantly crossing their minds - a preemptive question that seeks to unravel Pandora's box before it explodes.  In turn, we as the viewer wonder similarly how a teenager can commit such crimes and what their motivation could be?  Who is to blame in these circumstances?  Ramsay's film delicately handles this question and its very realistic answer, which, as always, isn't as black-and-white as people would have it.


The film is structured around the mother's flashbacks after Kevin's infamous deed and forms a very meaningful emotional spine for the story.  After all, the film might want to talk about Kevin, but Kevin isn't accessible to us as we are not in a similar psychological frame of mind.  So, it takes the mother and her self-questioning as the central theme.  "What did I do wrong?" becomes an evident question from start to finish as the mother, Eva, played beautifully by Tilda Swinton, struggles to return to a normal daily life.  She gets accosted by local neighbours regularly, who blame her for the whole event.  As she goes through the events in her head, we are guided along her youth, Kevin's birth and the aftermath.  The cross-over between the current and past is seamless thanks to visual connections, which is strengthened by a poignant script that leaves out any unnecessary dialogue.  In a film dealing with such a heavy concept, overuse of dialogue would have been the initial instinct as there are many things to explain.  But screenwriters Lynne Ramsay and Rory Kinnear have done an amazing job adapting Lionel Shriver's novel.


Besides the sound structure and clean script, there are many visual and aural themes that Ramsay utilizes to enhance her story.  Doors opening or closing are a repeated theme that seeks to establish a mother's curiosity in her child's odd behaviour.  Kevin is like a closed box, and no matter how much Eva tries, she can't truly see inside.  Another theme is the heavy use of red and contrasting colours.  Eva, as white as can be, looks striking around harsh red environments and the colour contrast really singles out her loneliness and helplessness.  Finally, the use of out-of-sync sound effects and dialogue also create that eery atmosphere in the film where all we're seeing is really what Eva remembers - usually after a bottle of wine.


A final mention has to be made for the actors in the film. From Tilda Swinton playing the mother to Jasper Newell and Ezra Miller as the child and teenager Kevin, the whole cast is outstanding.  There isn't a moment that feels fake, setup or forced.  It's all real and aching to find out why.  Why in the world is Kevin the way he is.  You better see the film to find out.  It may not be what you expect.

Not only skin deep

The Skin I Live In (2011) - dir. Pedro Almodóvar - 5 stars

Prolific Spanish director tells a grim tale of love and revenge intertwined with queer identity and more twists than any other Almodóvar film to date.  In its treatment of time and film noir elements, the film harkens back to “Bad Education,” but Almodóvar manages to delve into a form of queer identity he had never dwelled on previously, which renders “the Skin I Live In” as a unique and worthwhile film.  All in all, maravilloso.

Robert (Antonio Banderas) is a very successful plastic surgeon who specializes in skin transplants for burn patients.  His dedication to his career is also fuelled by his past life, which isn’t the rosiest of stories.  When his professional intentions cross paths with his personal desire to replicate and take revenge, he is propelled into a spiral where he ventures into uncharted territory with his new research.  Research soon becomes personal though for both captive and captor as the psychological impact of his actions take root deeper than the skin he’s fashioning.

The script is as tight as it can get with a good supply of comedic breaks, the signature of Almodóvar .  Without this lighter treatment, the film could have ended up on the horror side.  What probably attracted Almodóvar to this multi-faceted story wasn’t the horror piece though but more the identity and personal revenge aspects.  All characters have a deep and genuine grudge against another which serves as a rich springboard for them to play out their destinies.  Of course, they’re are all interlinked with each other so there is rarely an exact definition of good or evil in the film so no judgements can easily be made, again a signature of Almodóvar.  It is rather a fantastic study in forced identity which easily steals the spotlight from the cast despite the brilliant acting by Antonio Banderas and long-time Almodóvar diva Marisa Paredes.

Almodóvar's consistency in the depth of his stories is staggering, and his frequent excursions in film are equally rewarding.  “The Skin I Live In” is no exception with its unique subject matter of forced sexual identity and proves to be a film that will become a classic of his oeuvre. 

Sunday stroll...

Last weekend, I took a stroll along the canals in London. I started from Victoria Park and went to Haggerston stopping by Columbia Road flower market and Broadway Market on my way. Along the way, I ended up becoming friends with a cat, getting some nice tea and listening to a great band playing some of the best folk blues I had listened to in a while...all of which sit in my photo gallery on DeviantArt now. It was just like my other Sunday strolls in my neighbourhood, but this time spring had come and the sun was shining. Hope you can feel the warm glow in the photos.  Check them out here.

the Masquerade

The Venice Carnival has been brought back from the dead by the Italian government in the 70s to reinstate the Venetian tradition of the mask and costume, which was only allowed to be worn during specific times of the year due to the 'immoral' behavior mask-bearers would indulge in.  But most likely, the revival of this carnival was to promote tourism. I must say it works, as I found myself in the narrow cobbled streets  of Venice last weekend during the last three days of the carnival.

Despite the annoying number of annoying tourists in the city, I could get some great shots of men and women donning their most elaborate costumes and masks (check out my DeviantArt gallery for the photos).  There is something magical and a bit eerie in the way they hold themselves - very still with only the slightest of movements.  For most of them, I couldn't even see their eyes behind their full-face masks, called bautas.  I could only see blank, black holes that looked out at me.  The background of gondolas, San Marco, and the aquatic city just made the whole experience very cinematic.

I created a video from my trip to highlight this eerie feeling of statuesque poses and slight movements that belie it all.  Check it out on Vimeo! Link here.

"I couldn't even see her eyes moving behind the bauta. Her statuesque pose echoed the city's stillness. Then the slightest of movements - a nod, a shift of the fingers, a footstep - gave away what lay underneath the mask and the costume. It was in those fleeting moments that Venice came to be as it once was. Every man and woman in a masquerade ball pretending; a carnival celebrating the Venetian tradition of anonymity."