Friday, September 18, 2020

THE ANTENNA (Directed by Orçun Behran) ****

                                                                   Orçun Behran

Unique beyond the usual visual statement of a lifeless group of depressed people caught in a totalitarian nightmare of dictatorial orders - in this case, it comes from the installation of a new rooftop antenna somewhere in a dysopian city in Turkey.- This highly carefully crafted visually tightly woven film puts us into the thick of gooey black guck coming from the antenna itself.  This flawed piece of technology perched high on the roof - set to announce the midnight broadcast of the president intent of uniting all under his Turkish oppressive tyranny. Mehmet the caretaker for the tenement building discovers that all is not right and bit by bit he uncovers how most meet their deadly fate. Suspense slides into our psyche like massive oily goo pouring all over us. Each scene is utterly original in its horror.

The plot ominously thickens, starting with the opening scene when the man installing the antenna meets his own death; he falls off the roof when bricks cave in where he’s working. This foreshadows even darker events to come. The great electronic music, dark sets and narrow hallways create a somber mood that reflects the real-life terrible yoke that shackles all people living under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-year-old oppressive regime.  Acting was terrific, and hats off to the director to capturing the all-male domination of women that strongly peppers each scene in different contexts including marriage, fatherhood and work boss. See it and believe it!

 

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