Architectural Utopias – Cinematic Distopias

THE WELL

• Director: Metin Erksan
• TURKEY / 1968 / Betacam / B&W / 86´ / Turkish; French s.t.

• Screenplay: Metin Erksan
• Director of Photography: Mengü Yeğin, Ali Uğur
• Editing: Veli Akbaşlı
• Music: Abdullah Nail Bayşu , Orhan Gencebay
• Cast: Hayati Hamzaoğlu, Nil Göncü, Demir Karahan, Aliye Rona, Osman Alyanak, Fikret Uçak, Ahmet Kostariga
• Producer: Metin Erksan, Necip Sarıcı
• Production Co.: Lale Film
• World Sales: Necip Sarıcı

- 1969 ADANA Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (A. Rona) Best Supporting Actor (H. Hamzaoğlu)

In The Well, Metin Erksan, one of the most important figures in Turkish cinema, strengthens his idiosyncratic visual and narrative esthetic and depicts the vengeful struggle of a woman against a boorish man who repeatedly abducts her because she turns down his marriage proposal. Inspired by a newspaper report and written by Erksan, the film focuses on the hierarchy of visuals that is intrinsic to a director’s point of view rather than the dialogue, as it examines violence against women. The narrative strength of The Well comes from its framing of the woman’s point of view, her strife, and the violence she endures.

This film was a Meetings on the Bridge participant.