Climates.

"Although the film's provenance and the calamitous distribution climate for foreign-language cinema in America mean that it's destined for eye-blink runs at a handful of art-house theaters, Climates isn't difficult or obscure," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. "Its metaphors are transparent, its narrative structure uncomplicated. It's a satisfyingly adult film about men and women and relationships that might seduce audiences more easily if it were French, though in that case it would probably be three times as chatty."

Anthony Kaufman: "[T]he film is a quiet stunner, and for me, most likely the best movie of the year."

"[W]hat's exciting about it has more to do with Nuri Bilge Ceylan's inventive use of high-definition video than the rather familiar plot," writes Steve Erickson in Gay City News. "His work suggests that he's intimately familiar with the current canon of festival auteurs, to the point where some cynics have suggested he's deliberately making films for the international arthouse circuit."

Updated through 10/30.

Nick Pinkerton at Reverse Shot: "Ceylan is not Pialat, not Antonioni, and certainly no 'master.' But he is a diligent artist who squints and picks and digs and waits for tonal specificities in scenes (aided by hyper-crisp foley sound), he has a fine eye for dolorous landscapes, and he has more of a sense of humor than you might expect... And if you're willing to drift out and get a little lost, you may find his very sad, slack movie inhabiting you for some time to come."

"[T]he messiness of the world intrudes only rarely," notes Bilge Ebiri in Nerve.

"Ceylan's work must be seen in a theater, because its tactile quality couldn't be reproduced in the average household," pleas Scott Tobias at the AV Club, so if you get the chance...

Earlier: Cannes reviews.

Update, 10/30: "It is fair to ask if Climates would be as effective if it were set in a country from which we expect films of this tenor," writes the New Republic's Stanley Kauffmann. "Admittedly, the setting does heighten interest, but this film is much more than an ideational travelogue. Like all good art, it evokes a supranational affinity. And there is an unsurprising paradox: this drama of personal uncertainties is lodged in a certainty of form."

Posted by dwhudson at October 28, 2006 10:45 AM