Despite Erdem’s movie is full of stunning images with the potential to capture the soul of Turkish East when woven together, he sets his story in a world of his own; imposing it on a piece of reality, instead of stretching the reality towards magic. One might argue otherwise but seeing the other-worldliness of his characters I can not help thinking that he is not looking for the magic in the real world, that he brings his.
Setting a fantastic realm close to reality is a tough goal to achieve. Connecting the magical and real takes talent. The strangeness introduced/imposed to this snow covered small town in Turkish East works best in connecting with the real material its laid over when it is toned down to its lightest. The landing of the spacecraft is one such scene. Mystery in movies is often intriguing but it requires gentle care. Mystery surrounding the object from the space appears to be given the necessary care. Being placed smoothly it succeeds in melting within the pot enriching the overall mood. On the other hand the naive and mysterious dervish character captures our attention as he appears on the screen too but fails to sustain it. The repetitions of his mysterious behavior leads to a sort of “mystery wear”. I wonder what keeps a mystery object intriguing. Is it just the lack of explanation? Isn’t it also its distance from the ordinary, the rarity of its occurrence?
Erdem’s movie is nevertheless interesting. He seems to have solved many of the problems on his way, whether he reaches where he aims for in the end would probably find a different answer in each of us. And I should add this: After seeing Kosmos, I am looking forward to the next Erdem movie more than ever.