Turkish-American filmmaker Shevaun Mizrahi presents a remarkable cinema vérité portrait of life in a huge Istanbul old-age home, capturing the day-to-day experiences of residents whose physical abilities and mental faculties are inevitably failing. Viewers meet an infirm photographer who continually toys with his cherished equipment, trying to get it to work although he is virtually blind; a lascivious gent who garbles the narrative of Lolita, and then reads from his own salacious memoirs before playing some Chopin on the piano and asking Mizrahi to become his mistress; two bickering men who ride up and down the elevator debating questions such as the existence of extraterrestrial life; and a woman who describes how she and her family of Armenian Christians escaped death by converting to Islam and changing their names (she begs that she not be identified for fear of reprisal, and nods off during the interview, apologizing when she awakens). The interviewees’ gaunt faces are even more memorable than their scattered recollections. Mizrahi contrasts life within the institution with construction going on nearby, occasionally turning her camera on workers outside to emphasize plans for the future in comparison to the residents’ obsession with the past. She also uses images of falling snow and the building’s tall windows overlooking the courtyard to create an otherworldly sense. Emphasizing atmosphere over narrative, this moodily poignant, thought-provoking documentary is recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
Distant Constellation
(2017) 82 min. DVD: $375. DRA. Grasshopper Film. PPR. Volume 34, Issue 6
Distant Constellation
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