22/05/2023 - CANNES 2023: The Turkish filmmaker delivers some insights into his new film centered on a teacher feeling stuck in an isolated corner of Anatolia

Palme d'Or winner in 2014 with Winter Sleep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
film profile], twice awarded the Grand Prix and once the director's prize, Nuri Bilge Ceylan is back for the 7th time in competition at the Cannes Film Festival with About Dry Grasses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
film profile].

Cineuropa: Winter is almost a character in the film. What influence does it have on the story?
Nuri Bilge Ceylan: It amplifies the feeling of remoteness that is already present in this isolated place, in the middle of nowhere. The main character feels even more that life is elsewhere. The story comes from reality, from the diary of Akin Aksu, who is a co-writer of the film and who was a teacher for three years in another part of Turkey. When I read this diary, at first I didn't particularly want to make a movie about a teacher again, but several months later it was still on my mind, so I thought we'd try to make a screenplay out of it, writing as a trio. The writing took almost a year and I ended up with a very long script, twice as long as the one for Winter Sleep. I filmed the entire script and it was in the editing process that I cut it down.

The female character of Nuray seems a much better person than her counterpart Samet. Is this your general view of women and men?
For me, no one is good or bad. It is true that Nuray is a strong woman. But it was not an intention of principle, it was because it suited the character who lost a leg in a deadly explosion in Ankara and who is also an activist, this kind of activity sometimes makes you stronger. But Nuray is also very weak in other ways. As for Samet, there are catalytic events that open doors to the imagination and emotions: we understand more and more dimensions of reality. Sometimes very small things serve as triggers for our souls. This is important: there is a potential for change and I wanted to show this through the character. The ending can even be seen as hopeful, it depends on how you look at it. Because a face can be interpreted very differently. But what really matters is that Samet, in my eyes, is weak in the end. Because I think that genuine human relationships only reveal themselves through our weaknesses, not through our strengths.

Both teachers are accused by students of inappropriate behaviour. Is this a reflection on the current changes in relations between women and men?
This event simply happened in reality and it is present in the journal that we adapted. By the way, there is no mention of abuse in the film at all, but of inappropriate behaviour in class. Of course, the audience can imagine that this is hiding something. But basically, there is always a special relationship with certain students that you like more. Because their energy gives meaning to the job and you create these kinds of relationships even more easily in isolated places.But sometimes this delicate relationship breaks down by coincidence, like in the film with this letter that will have unforeseen consequences. I needed such an event to create a break that provokes many things, including between the two main male characters. Life is like that and for Samet it is a big surprise and a real disappointment because he thought that this girl liked him unconditionally. He starts to be very cruel because this is also his character and he can't help it. He uses his authority as a teacher, but he would do the same thing if it were a boy. He behaves in the same way with his friend, the other teacher, Kinan. But the disappointment is all the greater because this student gave some kind of meaning to his life. It's like with Brutus: the more confidence you have, the stronger your disappointment.

Education can drift into a toxic relationship.
There are always struggles between human beings, even when they are young, and I wanted to show the consequences. In this case, there is psychological abuse. The teacher is in a dominant position which facilitates the humiliation and raises his level of inner violence and his cruelty in general. I think this cruelty is potentially in all of us. And all this happens because of a misunderstanding about a letter. An incident that I thought was a good starting point for creating passion between the characters.

For the past few films, you have used very long conversations to define your characters and their motivations. Why do you do this?
It's a path I'm exploring. I like discussion scenes in theatre and in Dostoyevsky's novels, for example, with their whole pages of conversations. In life, I prefer to listen, but in certain circumstances I can talk a lot, especially during entire nights when my wife and I are fighting. When you feel your life is in danger, you talk a lot, perhaps to protect yourself. But that doesn't mean that I will continue to do so in the future. I'm just experimenting with different things.

You mention Dostoyevsky. More broadly, Russian literature seems to have a great influence on your work.
Since I read Crime and Punishment at the age of 19, my life has changed. I think about my characters through the prism of this literature. But it's a different country with a different culture, and every country has its own culture and we all have different personalities. But what neither time nor culture changes are the souls that are similar everywhere. That's what I want to explore, what I want to understand and what I want to see.

(Translated from French by Margaux Comte)