'My Only Sunshine'
An Atlantik Film (Turkey)/Cinegram, Cinepos (Greece)/KaBoAl (Bulgaria) production. Produced by Omer Atay. Co-producers, Cemal Noyan, Harilaos Padouvas, Despina Mouzaki, Konstantinos Geronikolos, Kalin Kalinov.
Directed, written, edited by Reha Erdem.
With: Elit Iscan, Erdal Besikcioglu, Levend Yilmaz, Banu Fotocan, Handan Karaadam, Nebil Sayin, Erhan Tekin, Metin Yildirim, Onder Acikbas, Aynur Tokluoglu, Ismail Basoz.
(Turkish dialogue)
"My Only Sunshine" is a maddeningly elliptical tale that treats its characters and the audience with equal contempt. That it does so with rapturously beautiful lensing only adds to the frustration, as if acclaimed helmer Reha Erdem ("Times and Winds") were arrogantly challenging the viewer to praise his story of a young girl's emotional and sexual violation solely on the basis of astonishing visuals. Even most fests will turn away with exasperation.
Introduced in compositions so sharp and colors so rich they almost appear to be 3-D, Hayat (Elit Iscan) is a 14-year-old class pariah despite her exceptional beauty. She lives on an Istanbul waterway with her father (Erdal Besikcioglu), a fisherman/smuggler/pimp, and sick grandfather (Levend Yilmaz, providing grotesque comic relief).
Hayat's mother (Banu Fotocan) has a new family and doesn't show much interest in Hayat, while her dad is mostly busy running prostitutes to enormous cargo ships. Only fat neighbor Kamile (Handan Karaadam) shows any affection for the girl, though her childish clucks don't offer Hayat the adult supervision she desperately needs.
Plot goes nowhere largely because Erdem refuses to include the beginning or end of each scene: Every new situation, despite repetition, has no context and little explanation. Fest auds are certainly willing to work for their understanding, but it's as if Erdem sadistically withholds any information that would make the puzzle pieces fit together. English-language title refers to an enervating red plush toy that incessantly sings "You Are My Sunshine," followed by an "I love you!" that stands in stark, and obvious, contrast to the lack of affection or praise Hayat receives from the people around her.
Young Iscan is certainly a captivating presence, like a juvenile Isabelle Adjani on the brink of discovering her sexuality. Unwilling to communicate with most of the people around her, Hayat generally hums rather than speaks, taking out her frustrations on a live turkey in the field out back. She's obviously being molested, and then raped, but it's unclear whether her father is pimping her out; nor can auds be certain if he's having gay flings for money or if that's his proclivity.
Erdem situates everything in and around Istanbul's expansive waterways, making extraordinary use of light and shade, color and sound, especially contrasting the father's small dinghy with the monstrous tankers sitting like giants on the Bosphorus. As with "Times and Winds," he's taken great care with the sound design, providing a near-constant accompaniment of unexplained sounds ranging from jet roars to storm rumbles and smashing glass. They certainly add to the sense of discombobulation, though eventually become yet one more wearying device.
Camera (color, widescreen), Florent Herry; music, Orhan Gencebay; production designer, Omer Atay; costume designer, Mehtap Tunay; sound (Dolby Digital), Herve Guyader; sound designer, Erdem; line producer, Gamze Paker; casting, Ozlem Sungur Yener. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Forum), Feb. 9, 2009. Running time: 121 MIN.
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