Three Monkeys

By Dianna Braginton-smith

“Three Monkeys,” a film by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

(Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan/Turkey/2008) With Yavuz Bingol, Hatice Aslan, Rifat Sungar

The introduction to this murky tale of secrets, deceit and loyalty is the shadow of a man fleeing a hit and run accident on a dark, winding road. Realizing his car was identified at the scene, the aging politician struggling for re-election convinces his chauffeur, Eyup, to come forward and go to jail on his behalf in exchange for cash upon his release. Eyup’s incarceration reopens old wounds between his dissatisfied wife and willful son, and once free from his controlling presence, the family begins to break apart. His release delivers him home to a house filled with lies and murder. Ceylan, this year’s winner of the Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, weaves his trademark cinematic style through this narrative of a family’s emotional anguish so strongly that the strife feels like a character in itself. In Turkish with English subtitles.

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The Miami Beach Cinematheque is located at 512 Espanola Way, Miami Beach.
305- 673-4567

THIS WEEK AT THE CINEMATHEQUE

MBC Premiere of the Global Lens Series — in collaboration with The Global Film Initiative 

"Getting Home" (Luo ye gui gen) (2008)

In this soulful and humane comedy, Zhao, a middle–aged construction worker, struggles to fulfill a dying co–worker’s last wish to be buried in China’s Three Gorges region. Setting out with his colleague’s body in tow, Zhao travels hundreds of miles across extraordinary countryside, encountering a number of colorful adventures and characters — and discovering love in some unlikely places. Director Zhang Yang’s humorous and moving tale of friendship offers a powerful, sometimes slapstick, commentary on the value of community and human connectivity in modern China. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

Wednesday, June 24 and Wednesday, July 1 at 8:30 p.m.