A rich and moving character-driven drama, Across the Sea, from first time filmmakers Nisan Dag and Esra Saydam, transposes a few tropes you might find in mumblecore to the exotic Turkish seaside town of Karaca. Opening in New York City, we’re introduced to Damia (Damla Sonmez), a pregnant young Turkish women living as a quasi-outsider in New York City. Drinking and smoking while pregnant, she dives into self-destruction, mostly in secret while her husband Kevin (Jacob Fishel) stands by aimlessly.
Informed in a phone call from her sister that her childhood home has been sold, and encouraged by Kevin who would like to see the home, they head to Karaca. Captivated by the landscape as an outsider, Kevin struggles to understand why Damia was hesitant to return. In a rather strong performance, Sonmez externalizes much of the trauma felt while Dag and Saydam create intrigue within these blank spaces and beautiful landscapes.
Across the Sea belongs in an exciting new cannon of Turkish cinema that allows one to simply absorb the space of the frame. While not quite as refined or restrained as Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s masterpiece Winter Sleep or Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven, the film is emotionally accurate, allowing its story to play out within its own pace. While Dag and Saydam, two first-time filmmakers, have not quite the teased out the political, religious and social impact at the core of the story (the way that Ceylan had so masterfully done in his latest haunting film), there is a lot to admire here.
A tad uneven, the story takes some time to find its footing (in theory the New York City portion of the story could have remained off camera), but the narrative grows stronger in its second and third act. Upon their return to Karaca, Dalma is reunited with local fisherman Burak (Ahmet Rifat Sungar), a violent man whose impulses are visible in how he treats a squid, whom we discover is someone more than just a casual acquaintance. Kevin — who by comparison seems kind, if not a tad bland — confides in Asli (Elif Urse), a pretty family friend who speaks English quite well, having one too many drinks with her after a second act fight.
As far as the established genre of relationship dramas go, there is something more to the restrained Across the Sea. It opens up a whole host of possibilities, yet Damia never quite seems all that attached to the landscape and her family. She has escaped what on the surface seems like a paradise for New York City, and has yet to find happiness. While many great films have made about immigrants returning to their native lands for inspiration and rediscovery, Damia doesn’t quite understand what she wants. The picture on a personal level exists a painfully realistic tragedy, even if Dag and Saydam wrap up things a little too neatly.
Across the Sea played at Slamdance.