A young filmmaker, Muzaffer, returns to the small Anatolian village where he grew up, resolved to capture something of its idyllic charm on film. His father, Emin, has no time for such games - he is desperately trying to save the plot of land adjoining his own from being clear-cut. Undaunted, Muzaffer set about recruiting family and friends to work on his film, including his young rapscallion of a nephew, Ali, and Saffet, who has just failed his university exams. The profundity of Ceylan's work stems from his uncomprimising fidelity to the spirit of filmmaking, as well the obvious love he shows for his family. His camera tenderly caresses the landspace as one would a lover's face, moving in slow, deliberate gestures, trying to remember it as it was so as never to forget it. Ceylan, in addition to directing and writing, also shot and designed this character-driven piece, exploring faces, and, thus, hearts. The kaleidoscope of images he captures - a child's smile, and old woman's still beautiful face, palpable heat over a meadow- form the basis of a fascinating meditation about generation conflicts, social changes, loss of innocence and the meaning of life, no less, while the camera follows leaves dancing in the summer wind.
