Articles
December 2011, Page 58
Music & Arts
Turkish Film "Three Monkeys" Screened in Washington, DC
An acclaimed Turkish artist chose an award-winning Turkish movie to be shown on Sept. 18 as part of the "Moving Perspectives" program at the Smithsonian Institution's Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington, DC. Carol Huh, assistant curator of contemporary Asian art, gave a brief overview of multimedia artist Hale Tenger and director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who won the 2008 Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for "Three Monkeys."
Both Tenger and Ceylan treat violence with subtlety and emphasize the personal meaning of space. Tenger's current installation at the Sackler evokes the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, former prime minister of Lebanon, by filming the flapping curtains and shifting light on the façade of Beirut's St. Georges Hotel. Hariri was assassinated in front of the hotel on Feb. 14, 2005, when his motorcade was blown up in a massive explosion. While the film was made later during the renovation of the hotel, the tragic moment is represented by the sudden interruption of the musical score and jerking camera movements.
Similarly, much of the violence takes place out of sight in "Three Monkeys" but its repercussions are still keenly felt. Ceylan's movie is more memorable for the oppressive feeling created by its menacing skies and cramped apartments than for its plot about a politician who kills a pedestrian with his car and bribes an employee to take the rap. The main characters see, hear and speak all kinds of evil as one murder and cover-up leads to another. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times calls it "a mordant cautionary tale on the contagiousness of corruption."
The exhibition of Hale Tenger's work was on view in the lobby of the Sackler from July 30 through Nov. 6, 2011. "Three Monkeys" is available on DVD with optional English and Turkish subtitles and more than three hours of commentary, interviews and other special features.
—Anne O'Rourke
