Critic Reviews
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Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
his is just unabashed melodrama, complete with mustachioed villain and wicked stepmother and wronged heroine and rescuing hero, all tied up in a love story sweet enough to make Hollywood blush.
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Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times
While the story is a dark and difficult one, the players in this morality tale are bathed in light and lost within breathtaking landscapes thanks to director of photography Mirsad Herovic.
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Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
Director Abdullah Oguz gives us lots of nice scenery, but the simplistic story and characters strain credibility. What's more, the climactic plot turn is as hokey as it gets.
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V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Sadly, the story leans toward the melodramatic and the conflict is too conveniently resolved.
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Stephen Holden, New York Times
However streamlined, this consistently gripping, visually intoxicating film stands as a landmark of contemporary Turkish cinema.
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Nicolas Rapold, Time Out New York
The movie could use more genuinely thorny moments, like when a bikini-clad student visits the prof and his flustered fugitives. Instead, Bliss gets a cheapening thriller climax that presses the cruel family patriarch into villain duty.
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Mike Scott, Times-Picayune
A powerful and absorbing drama, built upon strong production values and heartbreakingly authentic performances.
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Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
An engrossing, tender and compelling drama boasting exquisite cinematography and a radiant performance by the beautiful Ozgu Namal.
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Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
When modernity meets the Middle Ages, something's gotta give!
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Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Unlike Nuri Bilge Ceylan ("Three Monkeys"), who evokes an existential element in his fascinating approach to cinema, fellow Turkish filmmaker Abdullah Oguz takes a hackneyed approach to his subject...
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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
A mesmerizing Turkish film about the mysteries of human nature.
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Maria Garcia, Film Journal International
The director knows how to exploit beautiful scenery, but he fails at the most basic task of a filmmaker, which is to communicate emotion.
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Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
Lovely, swirling cinematography and the novelist's own emotive score help gloss over stereotypes and some clunky melodrama. Realistic touches overall make it satisfying.
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Phil Hall, Film Threat
Blessed with strong performances by Ozgu Namal and Murat Han.
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Ed Scheid, Boxoffice Magazine
Bliss personalizes the brutal custom of honor killing. Director and co-screenwriter Abdullah Oguz has skillfully created an intense view of the conflict between tradition and emotion in contemporary Turkey.
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Justin Strout, Orlando Weekly
Bliss is wonderful storytelling through and through. From the lyrical opening shot of a mountain's reflection piercing the sea to the closing portrait of open air, director Oguz's narrative is just as crystalline as the Aegean Sea he opulently photographs
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Joseph Jon Lanthier, Slant Magazine
Rather than allowing the raw nuance of the sexual hegemony to speak for itself, the topic is enveloped in a storyline that becomes increasingly more squalid as it unspools.
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Tony Macklin, tonymacklin.net
Set in an intriguing locale, based on an important novel, Bliss is the tale of diverse culture and sharp -- sometimes brutal -- conflicts. It is a voyage of coming to grips with the challenging cultural mix of tradition and modernity.
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Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve
A riveting Turkish tale of three people seeking to escape from their customary lives.
Read all 19 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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Hard subject, but easy movie to watch. Difficult to understand the 'old world' mentality regarding women....but that is the charm of the movie as I watched the main characters grow outside of the traditional protocol, and just become. It is worth 106 minutes of your life to… More
Hard subject, but easy movie to watch. Difficult to understand the 'old world' mentality regarding women....but that is the charm of the movie as I watched the main characters grow outside of the traditional protocol, and just become. It is worth 106 minutes of your life to witness the journey into their future beyond suppression, expectations, and tradition that may sometimes mask regular old evil and manipulation. Interesting movie.
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"Bliss" starts with the prone body of Meryem(Ozgu Namal) being discovered at the side of a lake after she has been raped and left for dead. To punish her for the dishonor she has brought to her family and village, it is decided that she must die. She almost hangs herself… More
"Bliss" starts with the prone body of Meryem(Ozgu Namal) being discovered at the side of a lake after she has been raped and left for dead. To punish her for the dishonor she has brought to her family and village, it is decided that she must die. She almost hangs herself but decides to live to spite her evil stepmother. So, Ali Riza(Mustafa Avkiran) decides that since there are too many soldiers around, he is going to wait for his son Cemal(Murat Han) to return from military duty to take Meryem to Istanbul to do the deed.
While too broad to be considered the definitive statment on honor killings, "Bliss" is still a compelling, and beautifully filmed road movie through a land that is literally tearing itself apart. Throughout, modern times clash with traditiional values. The most important value remains that of life and Cemal who has seen more than his fair share of death in the army wants no more of it.
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An interesting story plot that follows the plight of a young woman whose life forever changes after a horrific experience while out herding sheep. She is rescued the following morning, and taken home but now harbors a dark secret. After trying to obtain the truth from his daughter,… More
An interesting story plot that follows the plight of a young woman whose life forever changes after a horrific experience while out herding sheep. She is rescued the following morning, and taken home but now harbors a dark secret. After trying to obtain the truth from his daughter, her father abides to the wishes of his trusting cousin and allows his daughter to be sentenced to 'death' at the hands of his nephew. After his arrival home, Cemal must carry out his father's wishes and reinstate the family honor. After leaving with Meryem, they travel to Istanbul and it is there that he is told to kill her. With several attempts, Cemal cannot do it and the two travel outside the city. They meet an elderly professor, and the two set sail with him along the coast. In the midst of the adventure, his father and male cousins search for the two and Cemal learns the truth of Meryem's dark secret.
Mesmerizing scenery. Özgü Namal, Talat Bulut, Murat Han, Mustafa Avkiran, and Emin Gursoy stars. Definitely worthy!
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