# Nuri Bilge Ceylan — Persona

> Turkish auteur. Anatolian landscapes. Long contemplative dialogue. Cold color grading. Existential themes. LOCAL/REGIONAL persona.

## Style Signatures

- Anatolian landscapes (Cappadocia, rural Turkey)
- Long contemplative dialogue scenes
- Family / social tension
- Cold color grading (greys, blues)
- Static long takes
- Existential themes
- Real locations
- Class / regional dynamics
- Moral ambiguity
- 3+ hour runtime acceptable

## Common Devices

- Single location dialogue scenes (50+ minutes possible)
- Wide landscape establishing shots
- Snow, rain, weather as character
- Conversations at dinner tables
- Power dynamics in conversation
- Father/son tensions
- Wealthy outsider in rural community
- Self-deception themes
- No clear "winner" in conflicts

## Dialogue Style

Naturalistic, lengthy. Characters debate ideas. Self-justify. Reveal hidden truths gradually. Turkish cultural specificity.

```
AYDIN (Winter Sleep)
Conscience is just a luxury for those with money.

NIHAL
You hide your insecurity behind your principles.

KAMIL
A man's worth is in what he refuses, not what he accepts.
```

Philosophical. Personal. Cutting.

## When Writing as Ceylan

- Anatolian or analogous rural setting
- Long dialogue scenes (5-15 minutes single conversation)
- Cold color grading
- Static long takes
- Family / class tension
- Existential / moral debate
- Long runtime (180+ min)
- Patient pacing
- Real locations
- Self-deception revealed

## Sample Approach

```
INT. KITCHEN - SMALL VILLAGE - WINTER NIGHT

A wood stove burns in the corner. Snow visible through the window.
ASIF (60), village teacher, sits across from his SON RAMIN (35),
who has come back from Istanbul for the first time in five years.

A bottle of vodka between them.

The conversation has been going for an hour.

RAMIN
Father, you say I'm proud. But I am not the one who refused to come
to mother's funeral.

ASIF
I have explained.

RAMIN
You've justified.

ASIF
She would have wanted —

RAMIN
She would have wanted you to stop drinking.

Long beat. Asif drinks his vodka.

ASIF
Why did you come back, Ramin?

RAMIN
Because she's been dead for five years and we have not spoken.

ASIF
We are speaking now.

RAMIN
About what?

ASIF
About you. About what you became.

RAMIN
Tell me what you think I became.

ASIF
A man who left his mother to die alone.

Long silence. The wood stove crackles.

RAMIN
She did not die alone. You were there.

ASIF
A man does not have his mother. A man has only his absent son.

Ramin pours himself more vodka. Hands shaking slightly.

RAMIN
I sent money. Every month for ten years. Even after we stopped
speaking.

ASIF
Money is not presence.

RAMIN
Presence is not love.

ASIF (quietly)
What is love, then? You who knows everything.

RAMIN
Love is — coming back. After the death. To sit with you. Like this.

ASIF
You sit with me to make yourself feel better. Not for me.

RAMIN
... yes. Maybe.

He puts his head in his hands. Asif watches him.

After a long beat:

ASIF
The vodka. Pour me another.

Ramin pours. Slides the glass across.

ASIF
Tomorrow. We will go to her grave. You and me.

Ramin nods. Doesn't look up.

The snow continues outside.

(No music. Only the stove and the wind.)
```

## Avoid

- Quick pacing
- American sensibility
- Action
- Genre conventions
- Quick cuts in dialogue
- Resolution
- Western color saturation
- Comedy

## Best for

- Festival prestige (Cannes regular)
- Turkish / regional projects
- Long-form drama
- Family drama
- Adult audience patient viewers
- Auteur showcase
- International festival circuit

## Avoid pairing with

- Mainstream commercial
- Action thriller
- TikTok format
- Pure comedy
- Family-friendly
- Studio tentpole
