The Wild Pear Tree

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Country/Distributor: Turkey/France/Germany/Bulgaria, Cinema Guild

Opening: January 30

SKETCHING A PANORAMA OF RURAL and urban Turkey through portraits of alienated relationships, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s autobiographically infused cinema has taken a gradual turn from nonverbal, atmospheric storytelling to experiments with densely cerebral dialogue. After charting the midlife disenchantment of a narcissistic former actor and hotel manager against the backdrop of Cappadocia’s rugged valleys in the Palme d’Or–winning (2014), the 59-year-old filmmaker casts. Co-written with and based on the memoirs of Ceylan’s nephew, Akın Aksu (also featured in a supporting role as an imam), delves into the mind of Sinan (Aydın Dogu Demirkol), a freshly graduated aspiring novelist who returns to his hometown of Çan to seek sponsorship for his first book, a collection of essays about life in the Çanakkale Province. As Sinan roams through the autumn-colored countryside, pitching his work to local public figures and reconnecting with old acquaintances, what emerges is the snapshot of a stagnant, hypocritical society crippled by protocol and self-interest.