Nuri Bilge Ceylan Director of Three Monkeys

The script of Three Monkeys is a collaborative effort between you, your wife Ebru Ceylan and Ercan Kesal, one of the actors in this film. How did the writing process work? When Ebru and I heard of the self-sacrifice of a father, we decided to make a film about it. We developed the story and the idea reached a different point. Then when Ercan became involved, we made some changes to the script with his contributions.

The film contains a metaphorical and hidden solidarity between men – father and son, employee and boss… but what about the female character? The family is isolated from the rest of the world. True, there is solidarity between the father and son; although in the film it is not on the surface because they don’t open up to one other. We didn’t show the woman with her friends, but put in a little information about them, so she is not alone in this perspective. We haven’t created such a female character deliberately. Sometimes you need carrier characters to express a feeling, and in one sense the woman is fulfilling this aim.

Is it a film on the lack of communication? I think the lack of communication is the destiny of humanity. There are people who talk much but say nothing of real meaning: everybody is coded to protect themselves and hide their own impotencies. Three Monkeys focuses more on how a person behaves in critical moments, faced with unexpected situations (e.g. what a man does when he learns his wife is unfaithful to him). Nothing can turn out how we plan it - there will always be strange, complicated, incomprehensible feelings inside of people.

Distance, Climates and Three Monkeys tell city stories. How are cities - especially Istanbul - important in your films? I am a practical man. I make films according to conditions and possibilities. Istanbul’s scenery is not a must for my films.

Esra Demirkiran