Men On The Bridge

 

Men on the Bridge follows three men whose lives are connected by the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. Shot with a handheld camera and featuring real-life, non-actor types (à la Made in Chelsea), the film looks and feels like a documentary. As we flit between jobless teen Fikret, beleaguered taxi driver Umit and lonely traffic cop Murat all we’re missing is cheap shots from the Panorama voiceover guy. Director Asli Özge doesn’t make any concessions in the terms of cinematic frills that would upset the fly-on-the-wall feel. Amidst all the arse scratching, however, are light touches of comedy and pathos. Like Murat’s struggle in a dingy gym for a six-pack to land him a girl. There are wider political themes going on (like the strains of Turkish nationalism) but it’s the small stuff that Özge is interested in. The result is hypnotic if uneventful – like staring at traffic from a flyover. [Alastair Roy]