In fact isn’t this the premise that helped get initial recognition for Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s cinema in the international arena? What about Semih Kaplanoğlu’s “Egg”? Another story in which the male protagonist visits his hometown for self-exploration. This year’s İstanbul International Film Festival’s national award winner “Tatil Kitabı” (”Summer Book”) pretty much follows in the same steps, only this time we’ve got everything set in another small town of the Mediterranean: Silifke. And thank God none of the male characters have just returned from İstanbul to solve their existential crises.
Fresh-faced Seyfi Teoman’s debut feature after his acclaimed short film “Apartment,” “Summer Book” is a reflective piece of work, is beautifully shot, at times too slow for its own good but nevertheless has brilliant moments that will be embedded in our minds for a very long time.

It is the last day of school. We see a shot of the lustrous Mediterranean landscape from the view of a mountaintop. Suddenly the silence is invaded by a mass of schoolchildren in blue uniforms. One in particular stands out -- the lonesome and quiet Ali (Tayfun Günay). The poor kid is the eternal victim of the school bully, who cunningly steals his “summer book,” meaning the teacher’s assignment book for the kids, to be used for the entire length of the summer. What will little Ali do for the next three months? He is perplexed, we are relieved. This event opens the door for us to observe his family life full of understated conflicts ready to erupt like a volcano.

Ali’s father is the strong-minded merchant Veysel (Osman İlhan) who knows what’s best for his family: When the older son, Mustafa (Harun Özüağ), wishes to leave his military school to study management in İstanbul, Veysel will have none of it. The favorite uncle, Hasan (Taner Birsel), is on Veysel’s side, but he’s already considered the black sheep of the family since he couldn’t make it in İstanbul and came back to open a butcher shop. Furthermore, mother Güler (Ayten Tekin) is suspicious that her husband is having an affair with a woman in a nearby town. The young Ali remains only as a silent observer of the unhealthy grown-up relationships in his family until father Veysel falls victim to an unexpected stroke. Life as Ali knew it is over and he is forced to endure that point in every child’s life the hard way. Nothing can ever be taken for granted.

Although the narrative plot seems simple and trivial at first glance, “Summer Book” carries within itself a number of human complexities that is not unfamiliar to international audiences and very specific to Turkish viewers. Teoman’s Spartan dialogue is definitely not the product of a master screenwriter; nevertheless, his camera is efficient and never goes off route from the right direction. The Turkish summer towns have always been a representative of psychological escape for the city dwellers, but that feeling of escape works in the opposite direction for the town’s folk, the looming feeling of being stuck in a place where getting out is just a pipedream. Teoman knows this predicament very well, not only his characters but also his delicate frames capture and ooze that soothingly habitual yet innately disturbing feeling of provincial life -- particular to the deceiving beauty of the Mediterranean landscape. It seems like “the sanctuary countryside vs. the idea of the big city” will be a prevalent issue in Turkish cinema for a very long time, with good reason, although this thematic repetition has already started nauseating numerous Turkish viewers like myself.

The real forte of “Summer Book” is none other than the talented little man Günay, who also is lucky enough to be in the best images of the picture. I have no idea how Teoman managed to retrieve such a subtly powerful performance out of this young human being, but Günay’s Ali emits such radiance and believability in his coming-of-age story that you’re not sure whether the kid is acting in this film or actually living in it. Especially in one scene (there’s no chance you can miss it), Günay manages to show only in 30 seconds that invaluable innocence of childhood shattered to bits and pieces. Honestly, there will be no escape from the gulp in your throat.

The 30-year-old Teoman has assured his career with “Summer Book.” His debut has small faults but his passion and unmistakable drive will take him further. This boy has something to say.

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