Director: Tolga Karacelik
Cast: Nadir Saribacak, Hakan Karsak, Kadir Cermik, Ozgur Emre Yildirim, Osman Alkas, Seyithan Ozdemir
Running Time: 100 minutes
Synopsis: Six men must remain aboard a ship, that is anchored out at sea, due to complicated legal proceedings.
Confine men to a boat and you’re usually onto a winner in cinematic terms. There’s the always excellent Das Boot and just last year we saw the wonderful Korean thriller Haemoo. Now it’s the time of Turkey, as we are given Ivy, a psychological thriller that sees the gradual disintegration of mind and humanity.
From the outset it is obvious this is a stunningly crafted film. Shots are composed with thought and precision, while shots of sunlight bouncing off the ocean are crisp and delicate. We begin with slow pans into the faces of those that will soon become our main characters. There’s already a sense of doom and dread before the story even takes hold. It’s a powerful journey into our own minds as we take such leaps, and one that plays nicely with the film’s later themes. The complicated plot sees a ship that must remain at sea due to some monetary and legal matters between the ship’s owner and the ports they wish to dock at. It means that the ship must remain at sea under the care of a skeleton crew. This must include six sailors, which are the captain Beybaba (Alkas), a hulking Kurd named after his ethnicity (Ozdemir), the second in command Ismail (Cermik), the ship’s cook Nadir (Karsak), and two untrustworthy recent additions to the crew, Cenk (Saribacak) and Alper (Yildirim).
Initially we are set up with racial, national, and class tensions. It’s a good hint at what is to come, but director Karacelik always makes sure that the true victim is one’s humanity. The crew become restless as time goes on and pay looks unlikely, while others assert their authority and some lose their grip on what is important. Cenk and Alpir prove to be the catalysts at the disintegration of the captain’s set-up, hoping that staying on the ship and getting paid to eat would be a simple task. Cenk is brilliantly portrayed as a reprehensible, anger controlled liability by the excellent Saribacak. Never has such an unlikable character deserved to be the focus point of the film. Although the whole cast do themselves proud, they are lost behind their well written characters. Each actor navigates their role through a series of contradictory events and we see the rips in the mental fabric. Those who appear strong may actually be weak, and vice-versa.
Not only is it the tearing apart, but also the initial joining together, that makes Ivy such a success. We get a real feel for these men in a difficult situation, and enjoy their bonding just as much as we enjoy the intensity of their conflicts. With gorgeously lit sequences, that make even nighttime shooting a joy to behold, there’ll be a falling feeling deep within the viewer’s stomach as we descend into a little fragment of hell. Men driven apart by pride and power, as we see an adult version of Lord Of The Flies play out and remind us that human nature is very hard to change.
With spectacularly ominous tracking shots throughout the length of the film, we are fully prepared for a third act (each act is introduced by large roman numerals on screen) that becomes either paranormal or metaphorical. A Lynchian surrealism takes over the final act, without dominating to the point of absurdity. It’s an added flavour that provokes more thought, as well as striking imagery that will not be soon forgotten. Ivy is a stunning film that is unbearable, uncontrollable, but unbeatable. It offers so much drama and suspense, as well as dread, that it be described as many genres from drama to horror. A tightly paced piece of brilliance.
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