Nuri Bilge Ceylan Delivers Another Great Film in ‘About Dry Grasses’

The first great competition film screened today at Cannes and it was Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “About Dry Grasses.” We expect strong films from the Turkish filmmaker, but this one is definitely a step up from his last one (“The Wild Pear Tree”). It’s 197 minutes, drags in spots, but has these masterful scenes scattered all throughout its runtime. The film follows a teacher working in rural eastern Anatolia with the hopes of moving to Istanbul, but he is then suddenly accused of abusing a student. I’ll have a full review at a later date. Up next, I’m going to tackle the second great competition film to have screened today: Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.”