Mustang (2015)
The film of this week is Mustang (2015) directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven.
Born in Ankara, Turkey, Deniz moved to Paris six months later with her diplomat father, living there for the next nine years, returning to Turkey for summer holidays. After studying literature and African studies at university, she decided to enroll in La Fémis film school in Paris, graduating in 2008. She was one of two women in her class.
In 2011, Deniz was invited to attend the Cannes Film Festivals Atelier to help develop her project, Kings. Fellow director Alice Winocour was also there to develop her first feature film Augustine. After Deniz was unable to find financing for her film, Alice suggested she write a more intimate piece. The result of this was ‘Mustang’, co-written between Deniz and Alice.
Set in rural Turkey, Mustang follows five orphaned sisters who live with their grandmother in a large seaside house. After a neighbour misinterprets them playing with boys in the sea, the girls are subjected to a series of reprehensive action by their uncle to salvage their respectability amid village gossip. They’re withdrawn from school, imprisoned in their home with railings in each window, forced to wear ‘shit-coloured’ conservative clothes, and trained as dutiful wives.
Sticking together, the sisters device ways to get around the imprisonment and still maintain contact with the world. However, this delicate thread begins to break as they are sent off one by one into arranged marriages.The youngest sister, Lale, observes this rupture and realises she either has to escape or share the same destiny as her sisters. Refusing to have her spirit broken, Lale learns how to drive, prepared to flee at any moment.
Through this tale of liberation and coming-of-age, Deniz shows the untamable courage and spirit of young women, even when their femininity is sexualised. Channelling her desire to show what it means to be a girl in Turkey, Deniz creates a gripping account of sisters fighting back for their freedom like wild mustangs. It’s a precious thread of sensations and impressions, earning its nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.
Sources
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/15/deniz-gamze-erguven-mustang-turkey-interview-rachel-cookes
https://europeanfilmawards.eu/en_EN/film/mustang.3669
https://dafilms.com/director/10746-deniz-gamze-erguven
https://www.vogue.com/article/mustang-cast-beauty-hair-lipstick-chanel
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-a -36225698
https://www.indiewire.com/2015/11/james-francos-movie-column-why-mustang-is-the-best-film-of-the-year-52212/
https://myhero.com/deniz-gamze-erguven-the-politics-of-being-a-woman-in-the-21st-century