Orcun Behram blends genres, a bleak atmosphere and a statement for his sophomore feature

Although Turkish cinema scene is more associated with mainstream art house efforts, its more genre-oriented pool is also quite strong and recognized globally. One of the newer examples of it, a multi-genre crossover “The Funeral” written and directed by Orcun Behram is touring the genre festivals since its world premiere at the last year’s edition of Sitges. Most recently, it was showcased at the official competition of Grossmann Fantastic Wine and Film Festival in Ljutomer, Slovenia, where it scooped the main Viscious Cat award.

Behram opens his film with a sequence mostly located in a hearse van touring the back roads of Turkey to a small village graveyard where a funeral takes place in the rain. Its purpose is to establish the character of our protagonist, the driver named Cemal (Ahmet Rifat Sungar, best known for his roles in Nuri Bilge Ceylan‘s “Three Monkeys” and “The Wild Pear Tree”) as a loner and a man of few words who possibly holds a secret. Soon enough, Cemal is approached by his colleague with a hush-hush offer he cannot really refuse. His job is to make a certain corpse disappear for a period of time, until the situation settles, so it could be buried properly, and the reward for his effort would be a hefty, but not unbelievably large sum of money.

Initially, Cemal is wary that the offer might be a set-up, but he reluctantly agrees. The corpse he should carry around for a month or so belongs to Zeynep (Cansu Türedi who built her career on Turkish television), supposedly a victim of honour killing done by her influential family. Cemal drives the van away, checks into a no-questions-asked roadside motel and engages in his routines of chain-smoking and solo-drinking, until he hears some not-quite-dead noises coming from the back of his van. Well, Zeynep is a bit undead and quite hungry, and, since Cemal develops certain feelings for her, he starts caring and providing for her, urging them to be constantly on the move, while the police starts the search for a serial killer. However, there is no safe place in the world for the two of them, not even Cemal’s native home, and the day of meeting with Zeynep’s family is approaching…

“The Funeral” is a genre salad of sorts, blending the ideas of the road movie, “necromantic” comedy, love-on-the-run, horror and revenge thriller and doing so in a pace that often tests the audiences’ patience during the (almost) two hours of runtime until the make-it-or-break-it moment for the ending. To do so, Behram has to exercise full control over the material in order to converge the interesting ideas he has towards a point. There is a constant threat that the multitude of ideas would take the film over, but the filmmaker barely manages to hold a grip over them.

The first of the film’s strong points is the acting. It is not a surprise that Ahmet Rifat Sungar is reliable in a role of a cryptic loner, since those roles suit him well. On the other hand, Cansu Türedi is a proper revelation, since the actress nails the role with limited means of expression, given that her character does not speak. The supporting actors also create a rich tapestry contributing to the second of “The Funeral’s” strong points – its atmosphere. The realistic bleakness of it is conjured in the drained colours in the work of the art director Tuncay Özcan and the cinematographer Engin Özkaya who also lensed the filmmaker’s previous film “Antenna” (2019). However, Burk Alatas‘ editing could have been a bit firmer.

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But the reason the film mostly succeeds in making a point is the point itself. Behram packs a punch against the inherent conservativism, patriarchy and misogyny still present in the Turkish society, but is smart enough to hold it until the right moment. However, marketing “The Funeral” as a purely genre experience does not do the film any favors, since it serves better as an example of a hybrid of a genre- and an art house movie.

Film

Daddio
Director: Christy Hall
TeaTime Pictures and Raindrop Valley
In Theaters: 06.28

It seems that far too often, meaningful connections allude us, even in our close relationships. And then there are those rare occasions when you find yourself talking to a stranger, and for a fleeting moment, something magical happens. Daddio is a charming film about those unique moments.

One night in New York City, a yellow cab picks up a passenger from JFK International Airport.  The young female passenger (Dakota Johnson, Madame Web, Fifty Shades of Grey) whose name we never learn—the credits identify her only as “Girlie”—is preoccupied with texting, but the driver, Clark (Sean Penn, Mystic River, Milk) is a talker who quickly brings her out of her shell. As they make the slow journey to her Manhattan apartment in heavy traffic, the conversation runs a gamut of topics that include relationships, male/female power dynamics, family, hopes, dreams and regrets. Girlie reveals that she is in a relationship with an older, influential and well-known married man, and he keeps trying to sext with her during the ride. 

Clark shares stories of his many loves, and offers a variety of opinions about her love life, most of them unsolicited, though not entirely unappreciated. As the ride wears on, the barriers between these strangers start to come down, and a combination of vulnerability, honesty and empathy forges an indefinable emotional and spiritual link that catches both by surprise.

Writer-director Christy Hall (I Am Not Okay With This) originally conceived Daddio as a play, and in theory, the two person, dialogue-based drama seems to lend itself more to the stage. Hall manages to bring a cinematic quality to the proceedings that elevates the material and puts the audience inside the cab. The bulk of the film was shot on a soundstage utilizing giant LED screens, creating a virtual highway for the actors to feel and react to and make the experience real and immersive. The technique pays off handsomely, and the atmospheric beauty that cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (3:10 To Yuma, The Descendants) captures—both inside the cab and in his footage of the highway—is oddly and wonderfully transfixing. The key to the film is still the human interaction, and while the dialogue has moments where it feels just a bit too flowery or on the nose, it’s all packed with a lot of insight and simple charm. 

A movie like Daddio lives and dies by the acting, and Hall had two seasoned pros to bring these characters to life. Two-time-Academy Award-winner Penn finds his most memorable vehicle in years to be a yellow cab. Penn finds an everyman likability mixed with a certain button-pushing playfulness in Clark that brings out the movie star quality that makes him one of the all-time screen greats. Johnson has really come into her own to become an enchantingly raw and natural presence, and she brings a mixture of frailty, wounded self doubt and inner strength to a characterization that is layered and disarmingly poignant. Girlie’s relationship with the unnamed man is easy enough to eschew, and watching the inner battle between the knowledge that she’s better than this and the fear that she’s not good enough is riveting and even heartbreaking. 

Daddio was a film that got its hooks into me and won’t let go. It’s a simple yet perceptive depiction of two people learning a bit more about themselves through active listening and honest sharing with someone they’ll never see again. It’s a small, character-based film that offers a refreshing change of pace from most of what’s in theaters right now, and it’s a ride that’s well worth taking. –Patrick Gibbs

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The new crime comedy Thelma, now playing in theatres, features a scene-stealing (and money-stealing) performance from the greatest action star of summer 2024: 93-year-old June Squibb.

That’s no joke: June Squibb has been performing on stage and in film for almost 70 years, but this is her first lead role in a movie. Thelma gives Squibb (Oscar nominee for 2013’s Nebraska) at long last the chance to show her heart, humour and perseverance as a formidable actor and true star.

Playing the title character, Thelma tracks a 91-year-old woman’s quest to get her money back from a scammer when she’s tricked into telephone fraud. Teaming up with her skittish grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) and friend Ben (a warm Richard Roundtree), she shuffles and scooters across town in secret to find the fraudsters and take them down.

Squibb is clever, honest, and determined across every scene. Her performance is the perfect balance between her realistic physical limitations and resourcefulness to overcome them.

Writer and director Josh Margolin makes his feature-length debut with a clear vision for finding practical stakes and suspense for his senior cast. His eye for conflict and stakes in Thelma’s journey to right her wrong finds creative obstacles for her to overcome, and it’s presented on screen in a way that feels sincere and just the right amount of silly.

Small moments, like struggling to climb a shelf, remember directions, or log in to a computer, are all realistic threats to Thelma’s success. But Thelma’s limitations are never the butt of any jokes – rather, her pluck to overcome them is celebrated. That’s the key to the story’s success.

The supporting cast has their moments to shine (especially a very funny cameo from Nicole Byer as a seniors’ home staff), but this show really belongs to Thelma, Danny and Ben. Squibb and Roundtree also make for a great team, and it’s especially great seeing Roundtree in what would be his final film role before he passed away last year.

Margolin and Squibb prove to be a great pairing of filmmaker and star – and just as Thelma sees on her TV, Tom Cruise would be proud of this small, smart crime caper. In a summer of loud blockbusters, Thelma is a refreshing and fun night out at the movies.

Thelma

7 out of 10

Rated 14A, 1 hour, 38 minutes, Crime Comedy.

Written and directed by Josh Margolin.

Starring June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg and Malcolm McDowell.

Now playing at Cineplex theatres.