a film by SEYFİ TEOMAN BULUT FILM presents a film by SEYFİ TEOMAN 2011 Turkey-Germany-Netherlands 102 minutes 35mm color 1:2:35 Dolby Digital in Turkish INTERNATIONAL PRESS GERMAN PRESS WORLD SALES Richard Lormand world cinema publicity Jasmin Knich The Match Factory T +33 9 7044 9865 (France) Entertainment Kombinat GmbH Balthasarstrasse 79-81 +1 337 214 4815 (USA) Boxhagener Strasse 106 50670 Cologne Germany 10245 Berlin Germany T +49 152 2422 1837 (in Berlin) T +49 221 539 709 0 +33 6 0949 7925 T +49 30 29 77 29-20 F +49 221 539 709 10 [email protected] F +49 30 29 77 29-77 [email protected] www.filmpressplus.com [email protected] www.the-match-factory.com www.entertainmentkombinat.de www.ourgranddespair.com SYNOPSIS The peaceful cohabitation of bachelors Ender and Çetin is disrupted when they allow a friend’s sister to move in with them. The 30-something longtime friends are overwhelmed by the presence of the uncommunicative Nihal. What possessed them to accept the responsibility of a university student in their home? Especially a girl struggling with the trauma of recently losing her parents in a car accident. But simple daily rituals like sharing meals eventually bring the three roommates together for more pleasant moments. Nihal soon comes out of her depressed shell and the two men discover a vibrant beautiful young woman. Always caring and protective gentlemen, Ender and Çetin are intent on being conscientious guardians. Nihal enjoys discussing literature and poetry with scholarly Ender, and she finds comfort in boisterous Çetin’s earthy humor. Nihal is touched by the men’s loyal friendship: in a sort of bromance since high school, Ender and Çetin now seem like an old married couple... Before they see what’s coming, both men fall in love with the enchanting Nihal. But Ender and Çetin don’t want to disrespect their good friend nor confuse his still-fragile sister. Ender and Çetin seesaw between feeling like protective fathers to acting like nervous school boys, wondering if they should confess their true feelings to Nihal... COMMENTS FROM DIRECTOR SEYFİ TEOMAN Despair NİHal The word “despair” in the title transforms into different At the start of Our Grand Despair, Nihal seems inexperi- meanings throughout the film. In the beginning it is obvi- enced and uneasy with men, somehow innocent. She is ously the despair of Nihal who has lost her parents in a car fragile, creating the impression that she needs protec- accident. After Nihal moves into their apartment, it refers to tion. But she is, at the same time, strong and graceful. the despair of Ender and Çetin who are disrupted by Nihal’s She is discreet — although she strongly feels the pain of presence. Later when they fall in love with Nihal it becomes having lost her parents, she never talks about it. This dis- despair over the impossible love they feel for Nihal. Actually creetness creates a kind of mystery around her. As she the title of the book, and the film, comes from a sentence pulls out of her mourning, and gets to know Ender and from the book: “Our grand despair was not being in love Çetin better, she opens up like a blooming flower. She is with Nihal but that our voices were not among the voices of also sensitive and clever. She gets more confident and the kids playing in the street. That was the real despair.” So playful throughout the film, and transforms into a self- it also refers to a state of mind, to a wider comment about assured young woman. Nihal is a complex and compelling the nature of Ender and Çetin’s relationship. This despair character, and it is not difficult to understand why Ender comes from the pain of growing up and becoming adults, as and Çetin fall in love with her. opposed to continuing to behave like high school boys, free from the complications of the adult world. COMMENTS FROM DIRECTOR SEYFİ TEOMAN A Perception OF US who goes to work everyday, while Ender sees Çetin off in As amusing as is the love that Ender and Çetin feel for the mornings, as would be expected from a housewife. Ni- Nihal, my challenge in Our Grand Despair was portraying hal asks for Çetin’s permission to invite friends over, not the loving relationship that the two men have developed. Ender’s. Çetin is more extroverted and practical, while After years of friendship, Ender and Çetin have finally Ender is more introverted and emotional. This might be started to live together in the same apartment. Their rela- confusing for some, but for Ender and Çetin their relation- tionship resembles a sort of marriage that doesn’t involve ship is very clear. For them, there is nothing unsettled or sexuality. The core of their relationship is a safe closeness, ambiguous about it. Ender and Çetin love each other, but an intimacy. Ender and Çetin live together more like fam- they are not sexually attracted to each other, not openly ily than bachelor roommates. They do almost everything nor suppressed. Because of the characters’ closeness, together — cooking, sharing meals, going on holiday. They some viewers may have the impression that they’re a gay have a perception of “us” rather than “me and you,” just couple. I think this comes from our tendency to immedi- like married couples. For example, when they talk about ately categorize the relationships we see onscreen accord- Nihal’s feelings, Ender says “She might think she is in love ing to social preconceptions. Actually, Our Grand Despair with us,” referring to themselves as one person. is about how it is sometimes difficult to classify certain re- lationships according to standard categories. You can call Defying Classificaton Ender and Çetin’s relationship love, or you can say that it is Our Grand Despair plays with clichés about the roles within friendship, but no matter what you call it, a part of it will a traditional family. Çetin acts more like a typical husband remain missing. Their relationship defies classification. COMMENTS FROM DIRECTOR SEYFİ TEOMAN Building A Family Disrupting THE Family At the basis of their relationship, which began years ago Years later when Nihal loses her parents in an accident, in high school, is a desire to build a family together. Even in a manner similar to Çetin’s, and moves in with them, though the apparent reason may be Çetin’s loss of his family Ender and Çetin first see her as a threat, but with time in a traffic accident as a child, in reality this wish stems from accept her into the family. Since the basic dynamic of this something more general, sort of a desire to find one’s clos- family is an unfettered intimacy, it becomes inevitable for est, the other half of the apple. The desire to build a family them to develop feelings of love towards Nihal, the new can be better understood if we define a family as a warm member of the family, both individually, and as a couple. embrace, an affectionate home that you can go back to no But what is important is that they never see their love for matter what, the ability to forgive everything, and not the Nihal as an alternative to their own relationship. They do sociological definition of the nuclear family. This desire may not let their individual relationships with Nihal develop at take on various forms depending on age and social stand- the expense of disrupting the ‘family’. ing, and may present in different ways that evoke the social definitions inherent within the very relationship. COMMENTS FROM DIRECTOR SEYFİ TEOMAN Food THE Soul of A Location Ender and Çetin love food. They love cooking as much as I believe time and space are the most essential elements eating. It’s a characteristic of their relationship, some- of cinema. At times this can be even more important than thing that defines it, making their relationship different the characters and the story. Whenever I materialize a than others. It also involves a certain nostalgia to their scene, I aspire to present that space and time in all their youth, as they’ve been inventing recipes together since uniqueness. When time is in question, as much as the inner high school. Cooking and eating is also a kind of emo- rhythm of the scene, this also means the season and the tional language for them. For instance, they don’t talk time of the day it corresponds to. This is just as true for when they feel sad about something; they eat together. the interiors, if not more important. Of course art direc- When people live together, one room always becomes tion is very decisive, but I also care about the use of light more important than the others. It becomes the cen- and sound for this purpose as well. That is, if you spend all ter of cohabitation. For Ender and Çetin, this center is your time at home, you take notice of and even follow the definitely the kitchen. For them cooking involves a kind changes of light at home. In a similar fashion, if a signifi- of intimacy. The first thing they do with Nihal after she cant portion of the film takes place in the same apartment, comes out of her shell is cook with her. It is their way to we need to notice the changes in light. These are what end make her a part of the ‘family’. up giving a location its soul.