Ivy (2015)

Very well executed

Overrated and overhyped

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

"Sarmaşık" is a little surprise, a gripping and twisting story about six men that have to stay on board a ship when the owner of the cargo ship goes bankrupt. Till the owner is found and things can be resolved, the six men will try to keep the ship clean and in good condition. The group includes the captain, an experienced sailor, a guy that works in the kitchen, a silent and very very tall guy and a couple of pot smokers... Pretty soon things turn sour.The film is a study about solitude, the purposeless of life, the power fights between men... And it does a great job in delivering in all of those topics. The focus is clear, the direction tight and the acting helps. The characters are a little bit archetype (you know who is going to be trouble from second one) and it plays its cards with too much ambiguity (it tries to leave options open to the viewer, but sometimes it backfires). But those are minor problems, and the slow-burning pace and amazing atmosphere are the cherry on the top of a great movie, really worth checking.

Sarmaşık has taken my attention since I learned that it won 4 awards (best film, best director, best actor and best screenplay) at Golden Orange Film Festival in Antalya. First of all, I must say that it is a great success, a big start for the director Tolga Karaçelik who makes his first film. (He has short films, but this is his first professional work) Let's say I watch a film and I don't know that it is directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. I can say "This can be a Nuri Bilge Ceylan film" while watching it. I mean, the directors have their own styles. The young directors can be effected by masters, but Tolga Karaçelik differs from other young directors as it seems that he has already his own style. He has a great potential and the expectation from him is very high from now on.With a few words; the story is about six men who have to stay on a ship anchored far from the coast. The longer they stay on the ship, the more they get nervous. I don't want to give so much details about the film, but I would like to share two scenes I like so much in the film:Cenk plays and sings "Deniz Üstü Köpürür" after he tells his story. Deniz Üstü Köpürür (a popular song by Cem Karaca) means "The Surface of The Sea Foams" in Turkish. (It is a good example of using a soundtrack in a film)The captain of the ship talks to the crew on the open deck. When he is about to leave there, a hammer is thrown towards him. He takes the hammer from the floor, He orders Cenk to take it from him and put it in its box. (This is one of the subjects questioned in the film: authority fight)Good screenplay (with realistic dialogues), successful story development and great performance of the cast (especially Nadir Sarıbacak as Cenk) make Sarmasik a good film.As a summary, the surface of the sea foams...Bravo!8/10

If you're a thinker, this film is definitely on your watch list with high(est) priority. If you're not really a thinker, this film might have the power to inspire you to do so anyway.. so be warned! The timing seems to be perfect; the message it tries to convey is delightfully relevant to the confusing times of today. Tolga Karaçelik had the capacity to see this enabling him to crystallize this vision graciously weaving it into a beautiful form; a film that speaks vividly not only to the eye but also to the mind and emotions of the receiver. You will be challenged! What do you do if the the root of the problem has grown so thick that it seems impossible to eradicate it without the requirement of suffering and sacrifice? What will it take to inspire, enable us to move forward again when we're stuck, stranded and have no heading?Tolga Karaçelik has proved himself to be a gifted story teller. His voice strikes true and with strength yet remains grounded in its efficient and charming simplicity.

although it is too hard to provide humor and dark tones in a film at the same time without creating an unwatchable Kafkaesque comedy ( we have tones of very bad examples of Cohen brothers-like screenplays even coming from themselves) , brilliant screenplay with great directing and acting make it so easy to eyes. it takes you in a roller coaster of colorful characters who welcome you at the first 10 minutes and let you become one of them, eat, starve and thrill at the same time. director and writer Tolga Karacelik has vivid style and sense of humor that are all his own and he sets his benchmarks for his future titles in this movie. must see!