Set in Northern Turkey, Deniz Gamze Erguven's Mustang tells the story of four adolescent sisters living under the strict regime of their Uncle and Aunt. Returning home from school one day, the sisters are chastised for playing innocently with some boys. The perceived indecency and immorality leads to the sister's home being transformed into something that resembles a prison, with their aunt and uncle keeping them under lock and key until they can be married off. Homemaking becomes their number one area of study, which leads to resentment from the independent young woman, each of which wants to make their own choices. Capturing the secondary status and lack of individuality of females in Turkish culture, Mustang is an impressive first time feature which shines a light on the double standards and oppression against woman which runs rampant in this culture. Through strong characterizations of every sister involved, Mustang captures the changing of times which is taking place, as the younger generations show much more reluctance to embrace old, out of date customs. From the arranged marriages, to the showing of any skin being considered a gross perversion, Mustang creates an atmosphere of strict domination for these four sisters, being completely at the mercy of their cultures customs, with each of child struggling to cope in their own ways. Mustang is a film full of tragedy and hope, and I loved how the film captured how sisterhood simply evaporates in this culture at a certain age, as all women become the possession of their husband when they are married off, given no personal freedoms to make their own decisions. From a direction standpoint, Mustang is quite chaotic, using lots of handheld and unstructured camera movements which I'd argue perfectly encapture the youthful exuberance of its characters. One of the film's greatest attributes is its ability to explore the psyche of these various young woman, each of which struggles to adapt to the customs which they simply don't understand. There individuality is crushed by a culture that demands submissive personalities by its females, with Mustang poignantly detailing this struggle for these four sisters, each of which deals with it in different ways. While I could do without the narration/voice over, as well as a subplot involving the uncle's rapey tendencies which just feels forced and unnecessary to the story, there is no denying the the raw power of Mustang, a film that makes Deniz Gamze Erguve a first time filmmaker to watch.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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