19/11/2024 - Тhe exaggerated reality of Hatice Aşkın's highly stylised debut, a dystopian thriller, makes one wonder about the levels that public surveillance and cancel culture can reach

Janset Paçal, Boran Kuzum and Osman Sonant in The House with No Address

Hatice Aşkın, the Turkish filmmaker whose eye-catching film The House with No Address [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is currently locking horns at the First Feature Competition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, has a background in film design, which is evident in her first directorial attempt. The film is so visually arresting that, at times, the eye gets too distracted by elements of the setting and misses details of the plot, which also comes with 'footnotes.' This doesn’t prove fatal, as the overall idea of the proverb "he that mischief hatches, mischief catches" permeates the story and triumphs in the end by successfully reeducating the main character, regardless of the high price. And while the viewer may lose patience with the somewhat clumsily assembled puzzle pieces of the script, the valuable references to our overly controlled modernity remain, allowing everyone their own private catharsis.

In a geographically undefined and unnamed sterile reality, Alper (played with cold perfectionism by Boran Kuzum) is proud of his contribution to the newly implemented state laws, while dreaming of becoming a prosecutor. The legislation persecutes citizens based on the biblical deadly sins, and even pets who dare to destroy neighbours' plants fall under its axe. Sentences condemn the perpetrators to oblivion, while their loved ones are closely monitored until they are freed from all subversive memories. Alper takes pride in being one of the masterminds behind it all—until his mother comes under fire on charges of gluttony for the excessive amount of strawberry jam she brews at home. The lives of Alper and his father (Osman Sonant), also a man of the law, take a downward course as they lose clients, face grief, and struggle with a tarnished reputation, while the ultimate threat of having their memory-filled home confiscated looms. Meanwhile, Alper, who does not want to forget his mum, is forcedly imposed a new name and sent to a retreat centre to “get clean” of memories, but this only results in him developing a growing anger towards ideas he once deemed good.

The festival synopsis promotes the film as a provider of “deeper food for thought about the value of remembering and memories.” The theme of memory as a central focus is, of course, indisputable, but what is more interesting and specific is the indirect criticism of cancel culture – a trend that has grown exponentially in recent years and can ruin people's lives with only unproved accusations in no time. In this sense, the implausible sins attributed left and right in this film—a feature that is, above all, a weakness of the script—nevertheless serve as alarms about just how far the absurdity of public lynchings, for instance on social networks, can go. 

Despite obvious references to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil in terms of dystopian atmosphere and the visual styles of auteurs like Wes Anderson and Pedro Almodóvar as well as Yorgos Lanthimos, the latter of which Aşkın mentions in her Director’s Statement, as well as the occasional half-baked plot connection and skidding dramatic rhythm, The House with No Address is an original debut. If not rebellious, it at least stirs doubts about the sterile relationships that today’s so-called high moral ethics and the relentless pursuit of “justice” at any cost are driving us towards. 

The House with No Address was produced by Turkey’s Sky Films, in co-production with Turkey’s Vanta Black and Alpha Film, and Greece’s View Master Films.