User reviews

Film 4 champions movies that most viewers would never otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy, let alone even know about. Therefore, they are to be congratulated and supported for showing minor gems such as 'Honey' (Bal).

A small number of films have been applauded for stripping down both pace and cinematic frills to convey a way of life. Literally, any slower and we'd be in real time! Italy's 'A Tree of Wooden Clogs' is a famous example which understandably divides opinion quite severely.

It is almost incidental as to whom, what, and where 'Bal' is set and about. It will obviously appeal to those who prefer the organic side to things in life, whether in nature, lifestyle or in the cinematic process. Bal covers all these to a generous degree.

Yes, it features throughout a six year old stammering Turkish schoolboy - Yusuf - not particularly photogenic, or cute, or naughty, or anything. Just an everyday kid who has a bee-keeping father, who doesn't actually keep bees. Well, not in any one place - he places the hides in remote and beautiful areas and then extracts the honey. His quite young (looking) dutiful mother picks tea.

I feel quite privileged to have been given a beautifully, often exquisitely, photographed study of this life and taking up just two hours of my own life. I learned much and there is a quiet story in there somewhere - you can make of it what you will, it's almost unimportant. Or is it?

I turned my hi-fi amplifier up quite high when playing the film's sound through it and would strongly suggest you do similar. The all- encompassing natural sounds are so well recorded, every nuance and snippet of sound help paint a very vivid sonic picture. You could almost close one's eyes and listen to this on its own. Almost uniquely, (and thankfully) you won't have to suffer a sudden booming beat or great crescendo of added noise to make you jump out of your skin. It would sound great with headphones, too, I'm sure (as long as you have a stereo source, of course).

Personally, I always find it comforting when a film, involving a child features a good teacher. We all know and recognise one, from our own childhoods - Yusuf's teacher is measured and fair, calm and patient, rewarding good work, dissuading bad. These scenes were an absolute pleasure.

Apparently, this is the final part in a trio of films by Turkish writer/director Semih Kaplanoglu, though chronologically, it is the first part. Naturally, now, I want to see the other two parts, 'Egg' and 'Milk'. I'm hoping that Film 4 will be showing these, too, at some point.

Bal is the Turkish word for honey, and that is part of the storyline. Yusuf, a six year old boy, wanders about, searching for both his father and the meaning of life, in no particular order.

His father suffers the trials of Job, his bees have vanished for no apparent reason and he has a family to feed. An accident leads to dads early demise, so most of the film is told from the perspective of Yusuf, who as played by Bora Atlas, is an absolute casting miracle. The kid is tremendous; he owns the screen.

There is very little dialogue, so the actors must use their faces to portray real human emotions. The scenery is beautiful and the sounds of nature fill the air. In the mood for a quiet, thoughtful movie with actual heart and soul, then Bal should be just right.

The slow pace of Bal works to great affect as it explores the tribulations of a young boy not only with the conventional use of a storyline narrative but also with a range of beautiful compositions which equals the sophisticated style of vivid portraits.

Yusuf is a young boy who is an outsider yet vastly intelligent. He is at odds with his school life never fitting in amongst his peers, constantly watching them from a distance along with struggling in parts of his studies. When Yusuf stutters through a reading in class minimal techniques are used, only the camera slowly tracking towards Yusuf and multiple POV shots of school peers focusing on Yusuf in awkward silence contain the scenes vibe yet it strikes such an impact emotionally feeling Yusuf's embarrassment. Whereas watching Yusuf with his Father in a simple static shot as they work and explore in the local woodlands shows his deep connection with nature by knowing the names and mannerisms of various plants, it is wonderful to witness the bond the pair have and to feel Yusuf's tranquillity. The techniques used to capture these moments are simple yet effective showing the brilliance of Bal.

Bal contains strong visual elements not only in the minimal techniques used to capture Yusuf's story but in the compositions which are styled with outstanding detail. Yusuf sat alone in a barn facing the camera in mostly dark lighting to inhabit his depressing mood before the head of his Father's donkey appears from behind Yusuf to provide comic relief convey his mood in the same manner a later dream sequence. After his Father goes missing Yusuf begins to have haunting dreams, one of which is himself stood alone in the forest with the visuals being one of a greyish palette before dead bees drop into his hand as a foreboding of his Father's death.

In a way it is hard to describe Bal as a film because its much more. Bal is a piece of visual art that transcends from its quiet storyline to present the atmosphere and emotions embedded in Yusuf's life as well as those around him with striking use of compositions and ingenuity. Bal is not a viewing experience for everyone, only those who appreciate the visual sophistication celluloid can offer will be moved by this film.

after watching hundreds of grate classic Hollywood films, Italian and French unforgettable masterpieces , it's amazing that this specific Turkish movie made it to the top of my list. It is made accurately and neatly , you can see how specific was the directors planning. The story touches the viewer using less words and a more gestures.the connection to nature is very beautiful. the opportunity to get inside a Childs world is as always magical. actors don't even feel as actors , so that is also well done. I never heard of this director before , hope to see some more of his work in the future. I think this movie is intended for film lovers who watched European films before and are use to the slow timing and long cuts , for those who have not watched these before i recommend watching this one if you are trying to get started. waiting for more!

From time to time you encounter a movie that's excellent, but somehow doesn't get to you the way it should. This one's such a movie.

So much is done the right way: the calm narrative style and some wonderfully photographed scenes deepen the already atmospheric location work; the actors are convincing; and there's no need for cheap plot twists and conclusions.

But something's missing, maybe some sort of magic realism that would transcend the simple story into a meatier concoction.

I liked it, but I didn't love it.

7 out of 10 humiliating book-readings

BAL is a spectacular film. It's not a film meant for festival audience. It's not a film promoting some highly intellectual ideas few can make sense of. It features a breathtaking beauty, beauty of life itself. Without any superficiality such as music, effects and faster than life rhythm it creates suspense so much so that we stay on tip toes till the end wondering: what shall become of Yusuf? And we find it out at the end...OK I don't want to spoil it. But let me tell you one thing when the movie was over nobody could move from their seats. This is the miracle of Dir.Semih Kaplanoglu. No doubt Golden Bear was a well earned award for him and for BAL.

I had wanted to see Bal for a long tie. Finally, I watched it yesterday. Bal is an interesting movie. When a movie has very little action but keeps your attention for two hours, you develop a feeling of respect for the team who made it. You are convinced that making such a movie has lots of difficulty involved, and this mere fact evokes feelings of respect for it within you. Nevertheless, respect does not automatically bring the status of being good to it. Especially, if the movie attempts to give almost all its messages through symbols, looks and constantly rotating camera scenes, another difficulty is brought up, which, in turn, gives rise to evoking feelings of respect for it within you again. This time, the source is the fact that you feel ignorant to decode those messages. In addition, watching Bal is like viewing a Discovery Channel documentary in that the movies presents lots of scenes of both natural and man-made surroundings. However, there is a clear difference between the Discovery Channel documentary and Bal as the events made up of messages in the movie are not coherent and form a congruent story. At the end of the movie, I wanted very much to have conversations with the Jury in Berlin to have a glimpse of what they had thought in honeying Bal with a prestigious award.

The very intelligent director lets the story tell the story itself with much sophistication! The story is so profoundly blended into and diffused through actors in a highly natural way & path that are so close to the real life! With only few lines as most mountain farmers do not speak much, the facial expressions, postures, reactions to each other, body languages of actors tell the story and even animals help reinforce the story. I watched it twice and felt the power of the story even much stronger, a great silent power of the story that is told in a nearly silent way. While watching it, my physical & spiritual senses were all open to receive the story. it is composed through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, throat of the director's, and then conceived by the same senses, plus mind & heart of the audience's. The film has the best ending I have ever seen! Yusuf doesn't know how to react to the tragedy and he & the story exactly show that way, again in a highly natural way & path to present it! It is definitely one of the best films ever made in the world! ^0^

First of all i am a Turk, what's more, i like honey and milk very much !!! so this reality will affect my comment of course, i am not sure what would i say if the film was for example from India or Pakistan or Malaysia etc. Probably i would give 3/10, sorry but that's it. The film attracts my attention because it is simply real life, and all you see might be happening at the same time somewhere in north of Turkey. i am glad to see that, this kind of films are still being made, i wouldn't like that all directors go for Avatar,2012,inception or such films which have %80 computer technology. This film is a real escape for everyone who is bored of watching what is more popular nowadays in cinema. The film is very slow, like the nature itself in the film, for me, there is no point in settling down the cameras and microphones in the middle of nature and record it, for documentary of course the remote controller is set to national geographic, but not for a film. but this film is made of %80 nature and its quite awaiting for the eternity. some of you even could easily fall asleep when watching, which is -i think- not the aim of the director Kaplanoğlu. There are no any hit quotes in mutual dialogs, very simple and -unfortunately- without the accent of this region, it may seem nothing for a foreign watcher, but its very bad for a Turkish one. Also personally the festival in a large valley -towards the end of the film- destroys the quiet and dreamy atmosphere of the film. There are some symbols in honey, dead bees etc, but these are a little bit meaningless without some very powerful quotes. The father (erdal Beşikçioğlu) is a right choice but i cant say the same thing for the mother. The acting of Yusuf (the boy) worths watching. And there are very nice scenes showing Yusuf is waiting for his father. But please let's be realistic, anyone who goes to the same district with a hand-camera could have some nice shots whether or not he is professional. For me the main actor in this film is Nature.But i would like to thank to Kaplanoğlu who give it a chance. Watch it, but never watch it because it won the Golden Bear.

Set in the Black Sea area of Turkey, BAL is a vivid depiction of village life under threat. Yakup (Erdal Besikcioglu) tries to make a living collecting honey, but finds that there is no money in it. He travels to another part of the region in search of better prospects, but meets a sticky end. His fellow-villagers eke out an existence through traditional pursuits such as rope-making, but they cannot really survive. The main focus of the action is on Yusuf (Bora Altas) a young boy who feels unable to communicate with the outside world; possessed of a stammer, he is frequently laughed at by his classmates. The only was he can survive is through dreams of a better life - whether it be in the Black Sea region, or as symbolized by the elements (such as the moon). The cinematic style is slow, with plenty of long shots allowing viewers to contemplate the characters' reactions within the frame. However director Semih Kaplanoglu uses this style to make an acute commentary on a declining way of life, as well as showing the ways in which children are often forced to do things they don't want to, both at home and at school. A complex film that befits repeated viewings.

'Bal' is an interesting Turkish drama with inspiration on European cinema and they really managed to make it look European.

Overall, it's a neat movie, with no unpleasant surprises and nothing offensive or questionable. Interesting it is, but could be a little more involving. It's a touching story but moves very slowly, maybe too much for its own good. However, the biggest problem is that it lacks something, perhaps more soul and emotion. Also, it is much too repetitive, with way too many scenes which nothing special happens, most scenes are basically more of the same, many of which show nothing but the boy walking very slowly and looking around empty rooms. Much of it is pretty silent, as there are few dialogs.

There is beautiful cinematography and settings.

The little boy of the film, Yusuf, is quite cute and the actor who portrays him (Bora Atlas) does a fine job but he must have felt awfully bored with this role, as it prevents him from doing so much he could do. The boy in the film must be one of the shyest children I've ever seen in a movie. He is very very quiet and calm, talks very little but seems to suffer from a serious lack of ability to read. You can tell he's feeling awful for not being able to read properly but he can't help it.

A reasonable movie but not as remarkable as it should be. I enjoyed it but something's missing.

It is noble of the director filming his story and finding peace within himself by telling his story. Unfortunately I can't say the same about my viewing experience. I know the movie has made many fans (it even won a Golden Bear in Berlin in 2010), but even when I got on with the repetitiveness of some of the themes, I couldn't really take it as seriously as it was meant.

It never felt lyrical either (it's shot too down to earth for that), it never really gets fantastical either. It tells its story as cold as winter time can be. Which is strange considering there is a boy in the main role and you should feel for him. The fact, the boy does not really act did not help either.

But than again that's me talking. Read another review and you will read the complete opposite. I like slow moving movies too, but they should at least have some substance to them. Loss of innocence in your youth has been filmed in way better style, so that is almost feels like loss of my time ...

Bal (Honey) is the last film of Semih Kaplanoglu's Yusuf Trilogy. When I first read the script I was convinced that this one shall be the most powerful of the trilogy, and the result seems to confirm me. It is an exquisite film in all senses: the story, acting, visuals, and sound. The kid is superb. Well, it deserves a Golden Bear in Berlinale. I organized a special screening of the film for some European film professionals in Istanbul. Everybody was quite impressed by the masterful naivite and simplicity. The film skilfully manages to portray the kid's world and perspective. There are strong symbolic references waiting the viewers to decipher. The best thing to do is to watch the film. I'm sure you'll not regret it. Just some questions: lets all of us just think why the bees are dying. What kind of a relation do we have with the nature that we cause the bees to die? What is missing? Honey: a sweet thing which is a natural product of the bees. If the bees all die, where shall we find the honey? BAL poses a calm question to our modern civilization, to our modern selves.

This movie opens a window on the contrary of other two movies: Milk and Egg. I was not expecting to see such a difference after watching other two. This movie has everything: a strong scenario, beautiful scences that makes you appreciated and well defined plot. I wish I could see it at the cinema screen.

As slow intimate feature about a boy, his father, bees and school. Life is not easy, nor is learning how to read, when told to whisper in the first place.

This movie is about the daily routine of a simple, rural Turkish family; a father (who collects honey for a living), a mother (who works around the home), and a child (who goes to school). The story is told from the perspective of the child, a young boy.

"Daily routine" is the key phrase here, because this is exactly what you see. Nothing particularly eventful happens until towards the end of the movie. So basically you watch the kid going to school, and at school; the father going to work, and at work; the mother working around the home, harvesting or cooking. Interspersed among this is the occasional meal at table with modest conversation and interaction, and some brief father and son time around the home. That's it.

The only drama or suspense for most of the movie concerns the difficulty the boy is having learning to read which threads throughout the film to the very end. What I've described would be completely uninteresting told from an adult perspective. So it's the boy who is carrying this movie (cute kid). It's his perspective --which is very serious and thoughtful-- that holds your attention any length of time. But we are, to be honest, not only interested in the boy's character in the film, but also the boy playing the character himself. He is impressively disciplined for someone that young. But even the greatest actor needs something to work with besides daily routine which I can see anytime I want to by looking out my window. So I did zone out after awhile (No, I don't do drugs!) near the middle of the film somewhere.

One of the noteworthy and curious things about the movie is how subdued this family is; disciplined even. There are no great expressions of happiness or sadness for most of the film. There was the brief smile once in awhile, but that's as far as it went; a serious expression on all faces dominated throughout. So I didn't get the impression that this was a particularly happy family. But at the same time, I didn't feel that it was out of the norm either. So maybe they were happy --or at least content "in their own way".

Finally, I did not like the way the movie ended for principally 2 reasons: (1) This is a simple, hard-working family that did not have that much and did not "seem" all that happy to begin with. (2) The movie again, was pretty uneventful, as described, and so the only way it could possibly sustain your interest from beginning to end is if you like this family. I did. And so for these 2 reasons Boloxxxi felt like he was kicked in the nuts by the writer. A plague on the bastard! Love (Ironic, aren't I?), Boloxxxi.

beauty is the basic virtue of film. the beauty of images, the crumbs of mystery, Bora Altas are parts of this delicate, light-dark movie.a slice of pure life. that is all. and the delicate art of director to create the thirt part of a trilogy. seductive Turkish film, it is mixture of different lines of common life, religion and forms of poetry, small gestures and childhood perceptions. embroidery of signs and looks,it can have a lot of keys. but fundamental thing, the secret of this fragile construction, reflection about essential ingredients of life remains this special beauty. but it is not the unique source of fascination. because it is a correct story and each viewer has chance to discover his well known part. the school, the relation with the father, the image of mother, the wood, the different feelings, the search, the sleep and the shadows from little Heaven are drops who can make Honey a real good movie.

it is tempting to define it as art film. or as poem about life. or as masterpiece. in fact, it is only a story. a story like many others from the old times. a family. a boy. memories. and the absence. all is well known. the film is only support for remind. and each scene becomes a trip in yourself. a circle around basic truths. rediscover of the purpose of cinema. this is all. a family. a boy. the father. and the forest. like a line. letters and signs and the voice of teller. parts of reflection of world in yourself.

In order to make a film deep and engaging, it doesn't always require a philosophic brilliance in the idea or an alien avant-garde approach to it.specifically if its to be in the domain of realism like this drama does all the depth and beauty of the art depends on the simplicity and reality which the filmmaker invest in his work. its the third of Semih Kaplanoglu's Yousuf trilogy; the final one. and like the previous ones it pretty much relies on the same approach. The simple yet emotionally developing life of a kid is beautifully portrayed. Throughout the movie one finds himself passing through a subtle experience, a slow, deeply rich performance something which is more of the characteristics of European cinema.Besides the director has done good cinematography and a concise script that fits brilliantly with the nature and country side.

I would recommend it to all those that hold cinema higher than the source of mere recreation. its simple yet powerful you will definitely enjoy it.