TWO LINES- Selim Evci Turkey - 2008 - 97 min. -  Drama - 1:1.85 - Color - Dolby SRD - Turkish

 

Synopsis

Mert and Selin live two lives, one at daytime and one at night, imprisoned in a monotonous everyday life, where they each in their own way are observers of the world around them. Mert uses his days to photograph incidental passers-by, while Selin is a withdrawn businesswoman. But slowly the outside world crowds in on them, first when someone breaks into their apartment while they sleep and later when they decide to take the important step of entering the world, daring to go on a car trip to the south.
 

Two Lines explores this collision between Turkish traditions and Western values and how this becomes an increasing problem in matters of sex, identity and freedom. The “bildungsroman” structure of the travelogue as we know it is exchanged with a voyage into the great unknown, where the protagonists are two people who ought to be close but rather appear as strangers. Towards the end of the film, one question especially is left hanging: will this trip bring the two closer or pull them more apart than ever?

 

Director's Note

Two Lines is initially a movie that provides a rather aloof portrait of Istanbul with its unique metropolitan formation. In today’s Turkey, the overwhelming force of traditional codes and values is felt in every aspect of our lives. The clash between this traditional force and the inherited values of the west becomes increasingly problematic within the sphere of sexuality, identity and freedom; even harder as miscommunication and confusion sets in.

Two Lines focuses on this influence through the filter of two young protagonists striving to know one another. Their journey into the unknown will give the characters the possibility to break away from the roles given, encountered and transmitted. However, it is a mystery whether this path will make them closer, or farther.

Selim Evci