Three Monkeys

2009 • 104 minutes

About this movie

After his critically acclaimed mood pieces DISTANT and CLIMATES, Nuri Bilge Ceylan moves in a more plot-driven direction while retaining his mastery of ambience, nuance and astonishing cinematography.
Winner of the Best Director prize at the 2008 Cannes Film festival, THREE MONKEYS tells a twisty, noirish tale that opens with an ambitious politician fleeing a hit-and-run accident. Afraid of hurting his election chances, he pays off his chauffeur to take the rap. The film concerns the effects of this devil’s bargain on his family as simmering tensions and sexual intrigue wreak havoc in a household already haunted by hidden ghosts.In the spirit of Buñuels THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE and Michael Hanekes HIDDEN, THREE MONKEYS mounts a caustic critique of the bourgeois family, riddled with hypocrisy yet stubbornly resilient in its seemingly boundless capacity to sidestep guilt and accountability.PYRAMIDE PRODUCTIONS / ZEYNOFILM