Loneliness and urban decay take center stage at ‘Eylül’

‘Eylül’ brings yet another male protagonist with a mid-life crisis. Cemil Ağacıkoğlu’s award-winner film features lonely characters against the backdrop of the decaying city

Hot on the heels of winning four awards at the recent Golden Boll Film Festival just little more than a week ago, Cemil Ağacıkoğlu’s Eylül hit theaters this week. While "Eylül” means September, there is no direct link to the month nor the Sept. 12 coup of 1980, a favorite topic of Turkish filmmakers.

Eylül is Ağacıkoğlu’s debut feature. Like the internationally renowned filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ağacıkoğlu’s foray into cinema began after a long career in photography. The photographer within the director is heavily felt throughout the film with long sequences, minimum dialogue and some beautiful cinematography, drawing the viewers into stillness.

The film tells the story of a man’s quest to deal with his wife’s sickness as he falls into the arms of another woman. When Yusuf’s wife, Aslı, is taken to hospital for a serious illness, he meets with Elena, a sex worker from one of the ex-Soviet countries staying in the same hospital room as his wife.

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