Movie Review: Mustang

Movie Review: Mustang

Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven Writers: Deniz Gamze Ergüven and Alice Winocour Starring: Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan, Ilayda Akdogan I often struggle with offering my opinion about foreign films because, well, they’re foreign. Not understanding the language and the culture makes it difficult for me to determine what I think of the writing and the dialogue — a critical aspect for me! If it seems unrealistic, stilted, or bizarre I have no way of telling what the problem is. Is it the original script? Is it the translation? Or is it just my lack of understanding when it comes to this culture? It could be a combination of all three! Mustang is no exception. At times, I found myself perplexed and at odds with the words being translated across the screen. But in the end, whatever might have been lost in translation between the original vision and my perception didn’t seem to matter. I found the movie to be original, poignant, and powerful. This film brings viewers into the world of five Turkish sisters ranging in age from prepubescent to late teens. The girls, who have been raised by their grandmother, are beautiful and wild, seeming even feral at times. A walk home from school turns into a rollicking celebration as the girls stop to play in the ocean with a group of male schoolmates. In their drenched school uniforms, the older sisters ride on the boys’ shoulders in an impromptu game of chicken. Next stop: a fruit orchard where they help themselves to apples, the youngest girl laughingly using the fruit to give herself...