The Wild Pear Tree

Name: The Wild Pear Tree
Genre: Drama
Released: January 30, 2019
Duration: 188 min
Rating: 86
Cast: Akin Aksu, Bennu Yildirimlar, Dogu Demirkol, Hazar Ergüçlü, Kadir Çermik

2019

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 22 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	Your Score
7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

The Cinema Guild | Release Date: January 30, 2019 | Not Rated

Starring: Akin Aksu, Bennu Yildirimlar, Dogu Demirkol, Hazar Ergüçlü, Kadir Çermik, Kubilay Tunçer, Murat Cemcir, Öner Erkan, Özay Fecht, Rifat Sungar, Serkan Keskin, Tamer Levent

Summary: Sinan (Aydin Doğu Demirkol), an aspiring writer, returns home after university hoping to scrape together enough money to publish his first novel. He wanders the town encountering old flames and obstinate gatekeepers and finds his youthful ambition increasingly at odds with the deferred dreams of his gambling-addict father (Murat Cemcir). AsSinan (Aydin Doğu Demirkol), an aspiring writer, returns home after university hoping to scrape together enough money to publish his first novel. He wanders the town encountering old flames and obstinate gatekeepers and finds his youthful ambition increasingly at odds with the deferred dreams of his gambling-addict father (Murat Cemcir). As his own fantasies mingle with reality, Sinan grapples with the people and the place that have made him who he is. … Expand

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 188 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Martyn Conterio

May 19, 2018

The Wild Pear Tree isn’t a showy or boldly radical work, this is still Ceylan’s brand of poetic landscapes and intimate dramas, but it does represent an intriguing artistic progression, so any claims of ‘more of the same’ are redundant. Read full review

100

The Telegraph Robbie Collin

May 19, 2018

Ceylan expertly draws your eye and ear to the drama behind the drama, and gives the most gently naturalistic scenes the weight and grain of visions. The word visionary has been flogged by the film business to the point of redundancy, but with The Wild Pear Tree, Ceylan reminds us he has earned every letter of it. Read full review

Liam Lacey

Dec 3, 2018

At three hours without much obvious plot, the movie is, no doubt, a bit of a butt-number, though there’s enough wry humour, visual delight, and psychological insight here to more than reward an open-minded viewer. Read full review

Pat Brown

Jan 28, 2019

Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film takes a leisurely approach to narrative that’s both intensely dialogical and transfixingly visual. Read full review

Filipe Freitas

Feb 20, 2019

The film’s narrative arc demands attentiveness. It’s dense and talky, with a lot to absorb and almost no time to reflect. The deep meaning of the words blended with the pure, hyper-realistic filmmaking style of Ceylan, makes it a very rich experience. Read full review

Dan Fainaru

May 19, 2018

Ceylan’s script reveals a stagnating provincial world, characters all handling their thwarted hopes and inevitable resignations in their own way. Read full review

Ben Croll

May 24, 2018

In his 2014 Palme d’Or winner, Ceylan unpacked thorny issues of ethics and morality with a surgeon’s steady patience; he employs a similar approach here, only the territory is much less fertile. Read full review

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User Reviews

anilpak35

Jul 1, 2020

I watched it twice and reckon will watch at least one more time. Loved the movie. Specially the main character has not enough experience in the film industry but he did great job as well. As a Turkish speaker I can tell, dialogues loosing so much meaning/power with translation.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

vusal_iskandar

Mar 26, 2020

This tongue-in-cheek and beautiful film is full of metaphors, wonderful imagery and deep, intriguing conversations. Yeaah another NBC film, I guess no words needed to explain how it was amazing in terms of photography, cinematography and so on. It is just another NBC work and how it has toThis tongue-in-cheek and beautiful film is full of metaphors, wonderful imagery and deep, intriguing conversations. Yeaah another NBC film, I guess no words needed to explain how it was amazing in terms of photography, cinematography and so on. It is just another NBC work and how it has to be. But what I liked about this film was firstly successful explanation of existential problems of people from small village. Maybe its topic seems dull or monotonous, but the way that NBC expressed the problem is very strong. Secondly, films may be longer than standard films (3 hours). If you think there are lots of scenes that make film boring, I am sorry but you are mistaken. Because at the end I felt that every scene was necessary to get closer to Sinan's feelings. All of scenes as if helps us to understand, perceive Sinan`s feelings . There was one scene where Her Mother watched some turkish film alongside her daughter, in the scene from film, mother (I guess) slapped his son`s face. Maybe that episodes inspired mother to make "why didn`t you get the money from him, I sent to you there bla blah" conversation with her own son, Sinan. It is not secret that we all can be inspired by something and apply it somehow. Or just the topic and conversation with these religions guys maybe show Sinan`s concern or protest about his father. And I would love to say that final scene where there was one shot, Sinan used suicide method to finish his life, actually there were 2 times of suicide message. But it showed Sinan killed previous Sinan (?) and kill his feelings towards his father or even maybe give up on his poetry passions alongside the previous reasons. Yeaaah you see how powerful this film is. Especially 3 moments touched me so hard. Firstly Sinan`s conversation with his mother when he gave his book to his mom with own signature, Secondly again her conversation with his mom after his father throw away his dog`s pic, and finally when Sinan`s found out newspaper`s article about his own Ahlat Agaci book in dad`s pocket. They made me very sad, they touched my heart and soul so hard. ohh my god… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

m15964

Apr 9, 2019

This is kind of cinema that in Middle East has so much fans, Because lots of lives there are much like what shown in this masterpiece movie from the GREAT Ceylan. Absolutely MUST WATCH for everyone that wants to know a little about how to live in Middle East countries.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

batuhanchu

Aug 28, 2022

The adventure of a young man with dreams and his family trying to get rid of the countryside. The acting is successful. The cinematography is impressive. Diologists are intriguing. The messages he gave were excellent It is definitely one of the most successful Turkish productions I have ever seen.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

amheretojudge

Jan 30, 2019

The Old Boy And The Young Man.

Ahlat Agaci Bilge Ceylan's making of a book is as meticulous as it can get, throbbing arguments that never crosses the line to be a preaching-to-the-choir tone, this drama is more horror than it claims to be. And similar to the summary of the plot- a sonThe Old Boy And The Young Man.

Ahlat Agaci

Bilge Ceylan's making of a book is as meticulous as it can get, throbbing arguments that never crosses the line to be a preaching-to-the-choir tone, this drama is more horror than it claims to be. And similar to the summary of the plot- a son returns hometown after graduation and gets sucked into the sleazy schemes of his gambling father- the first act of the film can arguably considered as a bluff. And the journey of surprising us in each steps after the first act, that it promises to deliver us consistently, has its own cathartic release. But mind you, this game is played subconsciously with us, while the real drama on the screen comes like Rosefeldt's Manifesto- of course without sounding like a pretentious robotic monologue.

I would consider this as writers major win among all the others. The writers always had in mind to go deep into hardcore debates of world politics, life changing inspirations and seduce-like negative emotions that grows like cancer as one ages. And their procedure is pure bravura of work, initiating from one of my favorite meetings of our protagonist with his somewhat-like-an-old-lover, the film deals with the social issues that is justified and well crafted out in narration since there was a ticking clock behind them.

Cut to another nail-biting argument with an established writer, breaking the wall of celebrity and fan equation, the heating conversation is used as the primary weapon to start initiating on fabricating the other side of our lead character; this is the turning point of the film. Followed by another major discussion of probably everything, among his friends, the writers calls it a day on the preaching note as the viewers are left both cheated and challenged at the brisk of their seat.

While our so called hero struggles with the rest of the world like such, along with the nagging of his father's debt collectors, there is an entirely different game played in his house. But frankly, I would pity the actor to even show up on screen to share it with Cemcir, not only for his brilliant performance but the power that the character he plays has on the film. That three dimensional persona never fails to amaze us, from his half crooked smile to his ideologies, his character is peeled off layer by layer.

And clearly the makers were most euphoric about him, the way other characters speak about his great deeds and how he is so devoted to his work (in the final act, when his son comes to visit him, he still is keeping an eye on his students) despite of being flawed, just makes him more and more rich. There is a lot to listen and lot to ponder about, but as it was intended, the equation of a father and a son will melt you down in the end and to pull off that scene after implementing the fact that Demirkol leaves him without any help lying on the ground, has got to be the biggest development of the film. The Wild Pear Tree is every bit of wild as it has right to be.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

Lajaleaa

May 19, 2019

"If you love what you do, you can survive anywhere."
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( #20/100 ) . Después de ver la nueva película de Nuri Bilge Ceylan, "Ahlat Agaci" (Official Selection Cannes 2018), me decepcioné y molesté con lo que la gente hace con el cine a veces. El mérito que la gente le da a la película se"If you love what you do, you can survive anywhere."
.
( #20/100 )
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Después de ver la nueva película de Nuri Bilge Ceylan, "Ahlat Agaci" (Official Selection Cannes 2018), me decepcioné y molesté con lo que la gente hace con el cine a veces. El mérito que la gente le da a la película se encuentra en el dialogo, el cual conforma todo el proyecto. Pero mientras unos ven una extensa e importante conversación que revela la angustia existencial hacia los valores y acciones tomadas por los varios "roles" que conforman a la misma cultura que afecta y forma al individuo, yo veo una fallida intención de explicar la serie de posturas indefinidas que conforman a la cultura ignorante y vacía con la que luchará la voluntad de un sujeto igualmente confundido y que, al final, el mayor atributo de su viaje es que "aprendió" que "solo sabe que no sabe nada".
Hay certeza en la existencia y se basa en la información, pero si lo sustituimos por una sutil y pesada intención de convicción, entonces no habrá resolución. "The Wild Pear Tree" ignora eso y se convierte en una conversación sin argumentos, conceptos definidos, acuerdos o conclusiones, que le da permiso a sus personajes de defender una postura poco informada y muy sesgada que simplemente se deja a la deriva de la atención de la gente con poco habito de reflexión. Visualmente no existe una menor intención de poética y congruencia entre tomas. Hay drásticos cambios de calidad de imagen que se pueden ver entre cortes, una falta de cuidado en la corrección de color o, mínimo, mostrar el panorama de la historia de forma sensible. Las actuaciones simplemente se encargan de conversar con elocuencia el dialogo que representan. La intensidad dramática solo se presenta en 3 min. de las 3 horas que la película hace soportar a su público.
El cine no solo puede ser más que un vórtice de incertidumbre mal producido, sino que también tiene que promover el valor de la voz y el propósito; no de voces ignorantes e intenciones incompletas cuya resolución sea la rendición.
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After seeing the new #movie of Nuri Bilge Ceylan, “Ahlat Agaci” (Official Selection in Cannes 2018) I got disappointed and mad with what people makes with cinema sometimes. The achievement that people gives to the film it’s found in the dialog, which builds up all the project. But when some see an extensive and important conversation that reveals the existential anguish towards the values and actions taken by the several “roles” that conform the same culture that affects and forms the individual, I see a failed intention of explaining the different undefined postures that conforms the ignorant and empty culture with which the will of one subject, equally confused, will fight so, at the end, the major attribute of his journey is that he “learned” that “he only knows he doesn’t know anything”.
There is certainty in the existence, and it’s based in information, but if we substitute it with a subtle and heavy intention of conviction, then there will be no resolution. “The Wild Pear Tree” ignores that and becomes a conversation with no arguments, defined concepts, agreements or conclusions, that permits its characters to defend a poorly informed and very biased posture that ends up adrift to the attention of people with little reflective habits. Visually there’s not a minor intention of poetic or congruence among the takes. There are drastic changes of quality in the image between cuts, a lack of care in the color correction or, at least, in showing the landscape in a sensible form. The acting simply is responsible of making an eloquent conversation with the scrip that they represent. The dramatic intensity it’s only shown in 3 min. out of 3 hours in which the movie makes it’s public to sit through.
Cinema can’t just be more than a vortex of uncertainty badly produced, but it can also promote the value of voice and porpoise; not of ignorant voices and incomplete intentions which resolution is rendition.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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