THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – TO SEE
Recognized Turkish filmmaker, author of the remarkable trilogy Egg (2007), Milk (2008) and Honey (2010), Semih Kaplanoglu signs with Hasan’s Promises his eighth feature film, which has all the air of a work-sum, by its scope, its lofty view, its turn of the fable and its moralist posture. In the heart of the splendid expanses of the province of Ankara, on the countryside side, the life of a man is examined there, weighed by a profound and haughty staging, from which nothing escapes, and which thus intends to draw up the balance sheet. .
Hasan (Umut Karadag, a star in Turkey), a peasant in his prime, grows apples and tomatoes, at the head of a beautiful and profitable farm which employs several workers. The man did not arrive there by chance, but by a bitter and devious defense of his interest, skilful maneuvers and small arrangements with the circumstances. He does not hesitate either to tweak the authorized doses of pesticides, or to put pressure on an indebted neighbor to recover his land at a low price. Sharp cunning, therefore, that the farmer will have to exercise in influential circles, in order to stop a project to build an electric pylon right in the middle of his land.
During these affairs, Hasan learns that he has been drawn by lot to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca, with his wife, Emine (Filiz Bozok), carved from the same wood of greed (we see her taking the jugular a poor embroiderer to extort a tablecloth from her through indecent haggling). The pilgrim having to present himself with a free heart, then begins another cycle for Hasan, where he must clear the accounts and disputes of the past, in particular with an older brother whom he has not seen for twenty years. Stranger and stranger dreams begin to haunt his sleep, his consciousness, anything but tranquil, taking a painful and tortured turn.
Judgment posture
To tell this drama of acridity and torment, Semih Kaplanoglu, in full possession of his means, deploys a majestic staging, open to all the currents of the surrounding nature – vast spaces, golden summer lights, breath depth of the wind which, weaving through the branches, panics the soundtrack (the film is a real pleasure to listen to). Hasan’s journey, made up of comings and goings, of steps and incessant talks, in short of tireless mobility, is that of a crafty man who locks himself more and more in contradiction, incapable of reforming a soul desiccated for too long. Hasan is not exactly a bad guy, moreover, but a man forged by a system (corrupt: see the character of the judge whom he sprinkles with favors so that he decides in his own) and knows very well how to make it work for his benefit.
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