Richard Peña. Confession. Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Confession

Screened (along with Fate) at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, Confession brings a chilling, Dostoevskian feel to its searing look at the disintegration of a marriage. Harun (Taner Birsel) and Nilgün (Basak Köklükaya) have been married for seven years. Their relationship seems uneventful enough, with little outward strife. Then Harun suspects his wife of having an affair. Little signs appear of her unfaithfulness, as he begins to draw apart from her. Yet he fears that confronting her might actually bring the affair into the open—or end the marriage. With excellent performances from his two leads, Demirkubuz makes Confession a deeply moving study of people living with unhappiness and the toll it takes on their daily lives. There are neither heroes nor villains here, just victims.

Richard Peña. Film Society of Lincoln Center. September 2007