An old man narrates the reason for visiting his native village. He takes us through this personal life which is about half the documetary's content. The other half is left to the scenic hillocks and haunting music. A very unique way of expressing grief among the blooming flowers which warn of an approaching winter. Orhan Tekeoglu's direction gets credit in bringing them all together and keeping the pace just right.
“Time to Leave” is screening at Ulju Mountain Film Festival 2019
After living in Germany for forty years, Hasan Atalay in his 80's visits his village in Turkey. The old house needs maintenance and he goes about his days doing just that. The contraptions he devices when patching up the house are quite interesting. He talks about how he lost his son Erdogan and how he could never recover from the loss. His son always wanted to visit the village and though he is no more, the father builds a room for him to sleep in the house. He believes this would help him be at peace with his conscience. As he likes animals, for the few days stay he brings a cow over and takes care of it. Old age does not seem to have taken its toll on the man's body and goes on to show the kind of hard work he has put himself through to make a living in a foreign land.
Themes like faith, immigration, parenting, family and honor feature in Hasan's narration. Serda Guven has given the camera ample time to capture the hill and the huts. It is picturesque to the point of being mythical with the Vargit flowers adding to the ethereal charm. The soulful music by Tulum and Remzi Bekar is in perfect symphony with the nature on display and the emotion on screen. My interest in Turkish music is revived.
The simplicity and forthrightness add up to a very pleasant experience. Vargit Zamani (Time to leave) takes you to a time and place, from which you would hardly ever want to leave.
