 This Week at The Cinematheque
The Mysteries of Ceylan Series in HD
"Climates"
Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan/ Turkey 2006. With Ebru Ceylan. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Nazan Kirilmis
Often, the problem with a dissatisfying partner — or a dissatisfying relationship — is that they, or it, fail to sufficiently ease the difficulty of living with the complicated issues we have with ourselves.
The greater complication remains: in breaking it off, it is those very difficulties that we are left to face entirely alone. It often leads us back toward the person or thing that was not right for us in the first place, but whose company seems far superior to dealing with our dissatisfaction with ourselves.
Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan captures that dilemma beautifully as we follow Isa and Bahar through the deterioration of their May/December relationship and its aftermath. Isa, the older and more experienced of the two, feels isolated and unsatisfied with his relationship and ends it while on a summer holiday. Once back in his old routine, however, he finds his life lacking, and experiences greater and greater dissatisfaction as a bleak autumn chill surrounds him.
The final season of the film is winter, traditionally signifying death or the end — and here we see Isa desperate to control and resist that ending by tracking down Bahar. For him, however, the relationship seems not so much to do with Isa or any great happiness she brought him, but as a means of avoiding the truth of what is lacking in his own life. Dating her helped mute the fear in some way.
Ceylan’s background as a still photographer is evident in his powerful cinematic style, and his trademark theme of existential struggle is artfully accompanied by attentively shadowed angles of environmental isolation or ruin. Ceylan beautifully and painfully portrays the role of Isa, with his actual wife Ebru playing the part of his girlfriend Bahar, in this Cannes Film Festival Fiprisci Prize and Istanbul Int. Film Festival Best Turkish Film of the Year winner.
Thursday, July 16 at 8:30 p.m.
The Best of Venice in HD
“Goodbye Solo”
Directed by Ramin Bahrani/USA/2009. With Souleymane Sy Savane, Red West, Diane Franco Galindo.
Winner of the Venice Film Festival's prestigious Fipresci International Critics Prize, Goodbye Solo is the latest film from internationally-acclaimed filmmaker Ramin Bahrani (“Chop Shop,” “Man Push Cart”). On the lonely roads of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, two men forge an improbable friendship that will change both of their lives forever. Solo is a Senegalese cab driver working to provide a better life for his young family. William is a tough Southern good ol’ boy with a lifetime of regrets. One man’s American dream is just beginning, while the other’s is quickly winding down. Through this unlikely but unforgettable friendship, “Goodbye Solo” deftly explores the passing of a generation as well as the rapidly changing face of America.
Friday, July 17; Saturday, July 18, and Sunday July 19 at 7 and 10 p.m.
A Night Out
“Outrage”
Directed by Kirby Dick/2009. Featuring Congressman Barney Frank, Governor James McGreevey, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, and some who preferred not to be mentioned.
From Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick (“This Film Is Not Yet Rated”) comes “Outrage,” a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians with gay rights voting records who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to. Boldly revealing the hidden lives of some of the United States' most powerful policymakers, “Outrage,” takes a comprehensive look at the effect their actions have had on millions of Americans, and examines media complicity in keeping their secrets.
Friday, July 17; Saturday, July 18, and Sunday July 19 at 9 p.m.
Global Lens
 “Mutum”
Directed by Sandra Kogut/Brazil/2007. With Thiago Da Silva Mariz, Wallison Felipe Leal Barroso, João Miguel
Thiago is a sensitive and imaginative boy living on a small, hardscrabble farm in a remote region of Brazil. His life is filled not only with curiosity and youthful discovery, but also with the reality of his parent's unhappy marriage and his father's abuse — all of which are suddenly changed by a chance encounter and an unexpected gift. Director Sandra Kogut, in her poetic adaptation of the Brazilian short story “Campo Geral,” focuses on minute details of rural life to tell a bittersweet story of one boy's coming-of-age amidst events both great and small. In Portuguese with English subtitles. Winner of the Berlin Film Festival Special Mention award, the Miami Brazilian Film Festival Crystal Lens award, and the Havana Film Festival Grand Coral award.
Wednesday, July 22 at 8:30 p.m.
The Miami Beach Cinematheque is located at 512 Espanola Way, Miami Beach.
For more information call 305-673-4567 or visit mbcinema.com.
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