Pandora's Box (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
Pandora's Box is an award-winning 2008 Turkish drama film
directed by Yeşim Ustaoğlu
.
As the siblings start reminiscing about their mother, the tensions between them quickly become apparent; like a Pandora’s Box which is spilled open, all the unresolved disputes are scattered around. The confrontation with their mother’s sordidness brings them to realize how poor their own lives are. It is only the oldest daughters rebellious son Murat who empathizes with the old woman and an unusual alliance is born between the two.
Joanne Laurier, reporting on the Toronto International Film Festival
for World Socialist Website, writes that, The inner and outer worlds of the protagonists are well dramatized. Of all the characters, however, Nesrin with her upper middle class and invasive tension is the most developed, however, What is weak about Pandora’s Box, however, is that in its critique of an isolating, urban setting, it seems to long for a simpler, less complicated time and place. How helpful is that?
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Yeşim Ustaoğlu
Yeşim Ustaoğlu
- Life and career :Ustaoğlu was born in Çaykara in eastern Turkey and grew up in Trabzon on the Black Sea. After studying architecture at the Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul, she worked as an architect, then as a journalist and a film critic. Before she made her feature film debut The Trace...
.
Plot
Two sisters and a brother living in the centre of Istanbul are confronted with the care for their dementing mother who they brought back with them from the mountains near the Black Sea where she lived.As the siblings start reminiscing about their mother, the tensions between them quickly become apparent; like a Pandora’s Box which is spilled open, all the unresolved disputes are scattered around. The confrontation with their mother’s sordidness brings them to realize how poor their own lives are. It is only the oldest daughters rebellious son Murat who empathizes with the old woman and an unusual alliance is born between the two.
Reviews
Eddie Cockrell, writing in Variety, describes the film as a, confident, satisfying drama and that, Helmer and co-scripter Yesim Ustaoglu brings a novelist's feel for pace and character development to a story that, at close to two hours, could wear out its welcome but deftly avoids drag. He also writes that, French-born vet Tsilla Chelton gives a remarkable performance as an Alzheimer's-afflicted country matriarch juggled among a trio of urban Istanbul siblings, and, Ninety-year-old Chelton slips much deadpan humor into her otherwise utterly respectful portrayal, with other thesps fine in support. He adds that the, Tech package is accomplished, with a trio of production designers creating persuasively authentic living spaces that point up the gulf between city and country, traditional and modern, and concludes, Pic's unemphasized clash between old and new provides fascinating glimpses of a country in transition.Joanne Laurier, reporting on the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
for World Socialist Website, writes that, The inner and outer worlds of the protagonists are well dramatized. Of all the characters, however, Nesrin with her upper middle class and invasive tension is the most developed, however, What is weak about Pandora’s Box, however, is that in its critique of an isolating, urban setting, it seems to long for a simpler, less complicated time and place. How helpful is that?
Awards
- 56th San Sebastián International Film FestivalSan Sebastián International Film FestivalThe San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
- Golden Seashell: Yeşim Ustaoğlu (Won)
- Silver Seashell for Best Actress: Tsilla Chelton (Tied with Melissa LeoMelissa LeoMelissa Chessington Leo , is an American actress. After appearing on several television shows and films in the late '80s, her breakthrough role came in 1993 as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons from 1993 – 1997...
for Frozen RiverFrozen RiverFrozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet...
)
- 11th Cinemanila International Film FestivalCinemanila International Film FestivalThe Cinemanila International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by Filipino filmmaker Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz in 1999....
- Best Actress: Tsilla Chelton (Won)
- 3rd Yeşilçam Awards3rd Yeşilçam AwardsThe 3rd Yeşilçam Awards , presented by the Turkish Foundation of Cinema and Audiovisual Culture and Beyoğlu Municipality, honored the best Turkish films of 2009 and took place on March 23, 2010, at the Lütfi Kırdar Congress and Exhibition Hall in Istanbul, Turkey...
(March 23, 2010)- Best Supporting Actress: Derya AlaboraDerya Alabora- Biography :She was born in Istanbul. She graduated from the theater department at the conservatory of Mimar Sinan University in 1982. She has won two Golden Orange awards for her roles in Masumiyet and Yengeç Sepeti.- Filmography :...
(Won)
- Best Supporting Actress: Derya Alabora