About Dry Grasses (15)

★★★★★ Even those immune to marathon-length arthouse cinema should take a punt on this consistently mind-expanding one. ~ Little White Lies.

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From master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Winter Sleep, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) comes a daring tale of betrayal, accusations and desire.

Longing to escape the isolation of his quiet Anatolian village, disenchanted art teacher Samet wrestles with narcissistic ideas of unfulfilled potential. While battling accusations of inappropriate behaviour at his school, he unexpectedly strikes up a friendship with Nuray, a charismatic fellow teacher, which offers a welcome distraction.

But when her affection moves to Samet’s more affable colleague, he becomes jealous and begins to compete for her attention.

With breathtaking cinematography and outstanding performances, About Dry Grasses is an engrossing new piece of cinema from award-winning director Ceylan.

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★★★★ Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan has delivered another of his expansive, ruminative and distinctly Chekhovian character-driven dramas. ~ The Guardian.

★★★★★ A startlingly beautiful window into an art teacher’s life, this slow-burning, novelistic Turkish drama follows a teacher accused of inappropriate behaviour with one of his students. ~ The Telegraph.

★★★★★ You won’t want Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s epic film to end. This portrait of an art teacher whose aesthetic sensibilities are at odds with his thrillingly awful personality feels like a great lost work of Russian literature. ~ The Irish Times.

★★★★ ~ Irish Independent.

★★★★ ~ Financial Times.

★★★★ ~ The Observer.

★★★★ ~ Time Out.