16/02/2013 - Uğur Yücel's Cold (Soğuk) is a drama which condemns a rigidly traditional society through a story of two brothers.

Uğur Yücel's fourth feature film Cold (Soğuk), screened in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, is a drama which condemns a rigidly traditional society through a story of two brothers. While it does not provide any new insights, the film benefits from marvelous cinematography and some fine performances, with Russian actress Valeria Skorokhodova standing out.

The opening shots of the film show us the snow-covered region of Kars where the small town in which the characters live is located. The seemingly endless whiteness is cut through by the railroad, where Balabey (Cenk Medet Alibeyoğlu) works. He is a tradition-abiding, stoic man proud of the power invested in him as a railroad guard, which means he decides if a train can pass or not. His pregnant wife’s sister is getting married to his younger brother Enver (A. Rıfat Şungar), Balabey’s complete opposite- a heavy-drinking thug who exercises his male rights to the extreme in the backward society where men are only expected to be tough and harsh while women have to abide to their will.

On the night of the wedding Balabey, after a brief quarrel with his wife accepts friends’ offer to visit the only brothel in town, where three sisters, Russian prostitutes work. After a night with beautiful Irina (Skorokhodova), he falls for her head over heels and this is the beginning of the tragedy which plays out too expectedly to achieve a meaningful effect.

The conflict between the two brothers is skillfully set, but Yücel does not manage to turn the dynamics into a deeper examination of the issues that come out of the clash of tradition and circumstances of the modern world. However, he does sustain the tension and provides some involving interplay between the characters.

A.Emre Tanyıldız’s cinematography works best when showing the snow-covered exteriors and this is where the film really lifts off. Alibeyoğlu and Şungar’s characters are, unfortunately, not developed much beyond type but the actors make the most of what they are given. Skorokhodova, on the other hand, provides us with a lively, playful prostitute who is not as carefree as she might appear to be at the first glance.

Cold was produced by Istanbul-based TMC Film Yapım.