Pandora’s Box – Pandora’nin kutusu (2008)

Directed by: Yesim Ustaoglu | 112 minutes | drama | Actors: Onur Ünsal, Derya Alabora, Tsilla Chelton, Övül Avkiran, Osman Sonant, Tayfun Bademsoy, Nazmi Kirik, Emrah Tinte

The Turkish film ‘Pandora’s Box’ was made with European money and has a European heart. In this 2008 family drama, no Turkish politics, terrorist threat or issues of faith. The story about an old woman who is sent to the big city against her will could have come from any European country. Albeit a few decades earlier.

You expect something from a European film from 2008 about the metropolitan melting pot and the joys and sorrows that result from it. None of that in ‘Pandora’s Box’. This is about the differences between the stressed city dweller and the jovial countryman. These differences take the form of a generational conflict between the old Nusret and her three-headed offspring. Nusret doesn’t want to know about the modern times in which her children live. In their hectic existence, those children have no time for their demented mother, who is dragged from one address to another like a piece of ballast.

It’s clear whose side director Yustim Ustaoglu is on. Life in the city only makes people antisocial, while the outdoorsman still makes time for his loved ones. This view is as idealistic as it is outdated. Moreover, the wisdom that the old Nusret spews is not very believable for a demented woman who regularly poops on the carpet. The idea of ​​the profound country dweller versus the superficial city dweller is not quite 21st century anyway.

With its worn theme and elaboration, ‘Pandora’s Box’ is predictable from start to finish. The fact that the film saves the day is due to its craftsmanship. From structure to rhythm, from dialogue to acting, everything in this film has been taken care of down to the last detail. Moreover, Ustaoglu has not forgotten that film is all about images. It is therefore the images that make ‘Pandora’s Box’ rise above the average: children with mother in the elevator, grandmother and grandson having a meal, eldest son on his way to a gas station. These images do not make ‘Pandora’s Box’ a masterpiece, but together with the craftsmanship they do provide a few hours of responsible entertainment.