28 June 2013
An old Turkish man with a face like a rotting strawberry weds a child and prepares to charm her into his bed. She says she's scared. He laughs.
The long night of the soul that follows is visually intoxicating (the girl has painted red nails and wears a red ribbon round her white dress - the colours are so vivid you ache to reach out and touch them). It's also painfully funny and full of surprises. The one false note is a line uttered towards the end, that includes the words “fate”, “destiny”, “custom” and “tradition”. Director Reis Celik creates a spell-bindingly quiet mood. Then shouts out his message, which only makes us want to cover our ears.
