The Wild Pear Tree

Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s follow-up to his Palme d’Or-winning Winter Sleep is a persuasive portrait of a young writer at odds with his hometown and family.

After studies in Çannakale, Sinan finds Çan provincial, especially since everyone seems to know his father is knee-deep in gambling debts. Dreading he’ll be sent to teach way out east following military service, Sinan seeks funds to publish a book of his essays and stories – but will anyone in Çan recognise his talent? Ceylan’s discursive but consistently engrossing account of his opinionated but bemused protagonist’s fraught dealings with his parents and clumsy encounters with various locals constitutes another gently penetrating dissection of the flawed male psyche.

Again, as with Winter Sleep, Ceylon adopts a wry Chekhovian tone: detached yet compassionate, subtle but clear, quiet yet hugely expressive. With its vivid gallery of superbly played characters and exquisite tapestry of interwoven themes, this is Ceylan to the core.