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Hard Day's Night

Deniz Gamze Ergüven  •   France/Germany/Turkey  • ​  2015
97 mins  •  HD/DCP  •   M violence, sexual references
​
 ​In Turkish with English subtitles

 “Five young sisters in a small coastal Turkish town come of age against a backdrop of sun, secrets, and socially-mandated sexual suppression in [this] heartfelt, beautifully performed debut feature.”
– The Playlist
​
Oscar nomination, Best Foreign Language Feature 2016
With: Güneş Nezihe Şensoy (Lale), Doğa Zeynep Doğuşlu (Nur), Elit Işcan (Ece), Tuğba Sunguroğlu (Selma), Ilayda Akdoğan (Sonay), Nihal Koldaş (grandmother), Ayberk Pekcan (Erol)
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Producer: Charles Gillibert
Production co: CG Cinéma, Vistamar Filmproduktion, Uhland Film, BAM Film
Screenplay: Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour
Photography: David Chizallet, Ersin Gök
Editor: Mathilde Van de Moortel

Music: Warren Ellis

REVIEWS
​

"While it begins in a burst of lyrical exuberance with schoolchildren frolicking in surf, this knockout first feature from Deniz Gamze Ergüven builds increasing tension culminating in an edge-of-seat finale.  It’s the tale of five orphaned sisters growing in sexual consciousness, and their guardian uncle and grandmother’s increasing attempts to lock down this adolescent force.  In their coastal Turkish town, watchful neighbours defame the spirited girls’ purity: it’s a world where parents still bang on newly-weds’ doors demanding blood on the sheets.  So the girls are imprisoned in their sun-filled, several-storeyed house until one by one they are married off – as long as their virginity can be guaranteed.  Masterfully under-told, the story rarely leaves the house, unfolding through the eyes of the youngest girl, Lale, who reaches her own brave conclusion that escape is the only option.

Likened to The Virgin Suicides in its dreamy style and narrative, Mustang has a more urgent political drive, as we see several different versions of severely compromised female life.  Pared-back storytelling and a bold, very present musical score (by Warren Ellis) culminate in a phenomenally emotional climax as the possibility of freedom diminishes.  Mustang depicts a modern patriarchal Turkey with a deeply enculturated repression: the apparent normality of the restrictions belies their shocking violence.  Ergüven operates with a light touch, however, expertly drawing the viewer into a total empathy with Lale, her diminishing life options, and one clear principle she surmises: that if you don’t fight, you die."

— Jo Randerson, NZIFF 2015


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New Zealand Federation of Film Societies  |  PO Box 9544, Te Aro, Wellington, NZ  
Phone: +64 4 385 0162  |  Fax: +64 4 801 7304  |  Email: [email protected]
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • SOCIETIES
    • AUCKLAND
    • HAMILTON
    • TAURANGA
    • NEW PLYMOUTH
    • WHANGANUI
    • PALMERSTON NORTH
    • CARTERTON
    • WELLINGTON
    • NELSON
    • CANTERBURY
    • TIMARU
    • OAMARU
    • QUEENSTOWN
    • DUNEDIN
    • WESTPORT
  • 2025 SEASON
    • SWEDISH CINEMA
    • KUROSAWA
    • PECKINPAH'S WEST
    • COMEDY CORNER
    • GHOST STORIES
    • NZ FILM
    • RETRO CLASSICS
    • FRENCH CONNECTIONS
    • GERMAN CINEMA
    • WORLD CINEMA