Ron Holloway. Un Certain Regard: Yazgi (Fate) and Itiraf (Confession). Kinema. 2002. Review.
Un Certain Regard: Yazgi (Fate) and Itiraf (Confession)
Originally, the Cannes film festival had selected only one entry for the Un Certain Regard section by the talented Turkish newcomer, Zeki Demirkubuz — his Confession. The FIPRESCI (International Critics) Jury at the 21st Istanbul International Film Festival in April had awarded Zeki Demirkubuz for both films, Fate in the international competition and Confession in the national program. The critics’ decision was unusual, to say the least, but so too are these first two films in a planned cycle titled “Tales of Darkness.”
As for the declarations of the FIPRESCI Jury, Fate was cited “for its cool, restrained realism and absurd humour in depicting an indifferent character adrift in a morally judgmental society.” And Confession was commended “for its austere portrayal of an emotionally intense marriage torn apart by betrayal.” Inspired by The Stranger, Albert Camus’s novel published in 1942, Fate is the story of an educated man, an accountant in the customs office, who feels guilty without rhyme or reason for all his acts without even exploring the causes for his state of mind. “I wanted all my life to express my own feeling of guilt,” says Demirkubuz, “and my hatred towards the privileged, particularly to those who are seeking privilege only.”
When Musa’s mother dies in the night, he feels no pain, although he loves her, somehow welcoming the relief the loss brings. The same attitude is maintained when he marries, the more so when he is falsely accused of murdering the wife of his superior and their two young children. At the end of the film, however, we learn during a sharp give-and-take interrogation with an inquiring prosecutor why he has kept silent for four years in prison although he knew he was innocent. Still, hearing Musa’s explanation of his existentialist attitude doesn’t explain in the least his actions. In this regard, Musa shares the same philosophical view of the universe as Meursault in The Stranger — namely, he exercises a total indifference to everything in existence except the physical sensations of the moment. Thus, a tale of darkness that blots out the soul.
In Confession Harun, a wealthy and successful engineer, knows that his wife has betrayed him, yet he refuses to believe the evidence because he is afraid of losing her. However, when the pain become unbearable, he decides to confront her in a showdown, a night of bitter accusations and counter-accusations. He wants his wife to “confess” in hopes that the truth will clear his own conscience. Instead, just the opposite happens — a dark secret in his own life surfaces to drive him to a confession of his own.
“It’s not much of a drawback to live without the knowledge of who we are and what we are living for, without being at least curious of the truth,” Demirkubuz said. “We can even say that this may prove to be good for people of our day. For, on the other hand, the opposite has many drawbacks.”
Altogether, Zeki Demirkubuz plans to make five such “nihilistic” (in the searing, searching, philosophical sense promulgated by Marcel Camus in his writings) Tales of Darkness on such “empty obsessions” as evil and hopelessness in the world. Since he wrote, produced, directed, photographed, and edited Confession with a small team to assist him, in addition to shooting two films in one year, we can take this auteur at his word. It will be interesting to see in which direction the next three lead us, for not since the “tales of moral unrest” by the late Krzysztof Kieślowski has a director challenged his audience with such provoking questions on the very meaning of existence.
Ron Holloway. Kinema. 2002.
