If one day some cataclysm happens and we are left without internet, electricity and oil, somehow we will survive. At least I hope so. But if we run out of water, I’m afraid it won’t end well. Numerous films have already been made about the issue of water shortages and the struggle for water resources. The most famous is certainly the ingenious crime film “Chinatown” by Roman Polanski with the inimitable Jack Nicholson, and the story of a quality thriller by the distinguished Turkish filmmaker Emin Alper (Beyond the Hill, Frenzy) revolves around the fight for water. “Burning Days” or “Days of Drought” premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes festival, and later won numerous awards at various festivals and awards for films of the year, including the European Oscar for best editing and the award for best film. chosen by Turkish critics.
Behind the undisputed Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Alper is at the very top of contemporary Turkish cinema and he often questions and explores traditional Turkish customs in an allegorical, metaphorical way, usually in the provinces. Deep in the province, the plot of “Days of Drought” is also taking place, where a young, naive and aspiring state attorney has just arrived. It almost seems to Emre (Selahattin Paşali) that someone has put him in a time capsule and returned who knows how many decades in the past, and the first encounter with the place he arrived at will be a crazy custom in which practically the entire village chases a wild boar. Another absurdity that will equally shock Emre and the viewer are the huge holes that have recently started to appear around the village.
Very soon we will understand that these holes are created because the local sheriffs are trying to push through the construction of the water supply network in the village at all costs, and it is not impossible that this very digging and burrowing underground causes this frightening phenomenon. Immediately after his arrival, Emre will be greeted by a team that seems to have fallen out of Deadwood, the son of a corrupt mayor who is cheerful and wears everything and his best friend, a dentist. They will immediately try to win Emre over to their side, show him that things don’t work there and that he doesn’t make waves, but when he shows them that he is not too interested in their schemes, they will decide on a different tactic.
After a stormy night drenched in alcohol, Emre will wake up with holes in his memory, and soon a girl will appear in the hospital who claims she was raped. Somehow in a fog, Emre remembers that he saw that girl at the mayor’s party, and he is more and more convinced that they put drugs in his drink. A naive young investigator is convinced that he knows he is responsible, but his desire for justice and honesty will be put to the test when he realizes that it is not as it seems. Those huge holes in the ground that appear as if metaphorically will slowly begin to swallow Emre and practically everyone who lives there. Alper made a more than good film that problematizes not only the corruption and lawlessness typical of such small isolated places where a narrow circle of people knows how to completely grab all the power, but also how such an order seems impossible to change.
Those who have good and honest intentions will not have a good time and will be left with the old one – join us or disappear. It is brilliantly shown how this primitivism is masterfully combined with modern technologies and how such types understand well how photos and video clips can be useful for various illegal activities such as blackmail and extortion. The film was shot with a lot of style, very well developed, cynical in its portrayal of the complete decadence of those greedy and rotten political elites, but also the complete disinterest of ordinary people who allow themselves to be bribed so cheaply and agree to maintain the status quo.