Three Monkeys

Servet (Ercan Kesal), a politician facing re-election, is involved in a hit-and-run case. Fearing an electoral debacle, he calls up his driver Eyup (Yavuz Bingol) and convinces him to take the blame with a promise to pay him a hefty sum after he is out of prison.

As Eyup serves his nine-month jail term, his son Ismail (Ahmet Rifta Sungar), desperate to find a job, asks his mother Hacer (Hatice Aslan) to take the money in advance from his father’s boss.

However, after frequent visits to Servet’s office, Hacer falls in love with him. Then, one thing leads to another until her son finds out her illicit relationship. The disastrous drama unfolds when Eyup, after his release, finds out that his wife had been having a fling with his boss. However, in order to avoid responsibilities and stick together, the family, like the allegorical three monkeys, chooses to ignore the truth: refusing to see, hear or even talk about it.

The Three Monkeys is a slow surrealist film with its shabby set. It is more of an art film. The second half, however, picks up the pace a bit, when Ismail discovers his mother’s affair with his dad’s boss. Some of the intriguing questions the film poses are: Is our behaviour defined by our emotional relationship more than by rightful actions? Are we likely to close our eyes to the dead on the streets whom we barely know?

Are we ready to sacrifice ourselves for the survival of our family, at all cost? Though the film is a depressing view of humanity many of us would say, ‘this is the real world.’

It also potrays a woman’s longing for freedom. Hacer tells her son that she never does anything without his father’s permission when he asks her for the money, because it just makes him angry. Therefore, Eyup’s nine-month jail provided Hacer the most wanted freedom in her married life. Having tasted the freedom, Hacer finds it hard to step back to the ways of a demanding husband.

The film’s grey and brown palette perfectly portray the gloomy and oppressive view of our belief that society rests on deceit.

The film is set to test your patience with its slow pace. However, it is worth the time and the money.
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Turkish (A) (With English subtitles)

Cast: Hatice Aslan, Yavuz Bingol, Ercan Kesal, Ahmet Rifat SungarDirector: Nuri Bilge