Tugba Sunguroglu, Ilayda Akdogan, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Elit Iscan, and Gunes Sensoy (Cohen Media Group)

By DCist contributor Orrin Konheim

First-time director Deniz Gamze Ergüven just earned a coveted Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film for her debut film Mustang. In the movie, five orphaned sisters in a nondescript Turkish town are transferred from the care of their grandmother to their Uncle Erol (Ayberk Pekcan) and Aunt Emine (Aynur Komecoglu). Their new surrogate parents are disciplinarians in a hyper-traditionalist society; in their eyes, the girls have shamed the family name by innocently cavorting with male classmates on the beach. Under the tutelage of Erol and Emine, the girls are commodities to be sheltered from society until they are married off.

The camera acts as an indiscriminate intruder, soaking in the beauty around it like a documentarian. Even under virtual house arrest, the sisters find joy in each other as they giggle, play, and go on adventures together. Without peer interaction and the circadian rhythms of a school year, it’s easy for the girls (and the audience) to lose the notion of time, despite the fact that their only real order of business is to grow old enough to be married off.

Mustang is like a version of Little House on the Prairie with hellish undertones. In particular, the younger sisters are made aware of the ticking clock on their tranquil purgatory when the older sisters get married off. They react with a curiosity that’s tinged dread, asking one of their newly-married sisters questions about sex over the phone with a lot less giggling.

The sisters’ house arrest doesn’t completely extinguish teenage curiosity; in the worst-case scenario seen here, it leads to reckless sexual experimentation, playing hooky, and further psychological desperation. Their escalating desperation gives the movie its dramatic tension.

Turkish-born Ergüven went to film school in France (which explains why this is technically a French film), and looks on traditionalist Turkish culture from a more forward-thinking view. Still, she smartly avoids turning Erol, Emine, and the rest of the village into strawmen. Instead, they’re depicted as examples of a very specific brand of cruel parenting. And you can find bad parents anywhere.

Mustang is a film rooted in a specific place and culture, but its universal themes make it a worthy Oscar contender.

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Mustang
Directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Written by Deniz Gamze Ergüven and Alice Winocour
With Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Elit Iscan
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content and a rude gesture
Running time 97 minutes
Opens today at Landmark Bethesda Row