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Bilmemek

Not Knowing (Bilmemek)

Movie · 2019 · 5 people

The Turkish drama Bilmemek ("Not Knowing") comes from Leyla Yılmaz, who both wrote and directed it. It is known in France as Une âme secrète. Running 95 minutes, it opened in Turkish cinemas on August 13, 2021. The film centres on the "Q" in LGBTIQ, people who are still questioning their identity or do not want to state a preference, seen through a teenager and his estranged parents in an age when everyone wants to know everything.

At its heart is a middle-class family unhappy with its life. Selma and Sinan can barely tolerate each other anymore, while their son Umut, a high school senior who plays on the water polo team, is eager to prove himself. Rumours start going round school that he is gay. As Selma and Sinan struggle with their worn-out marriage, the gossip grows and Umut suddenly vanishes. Searching for him, his parents realise they have lost themselves. Emir Özden, Senan Kara and Yurdaer Okur are in the lead roles, with Çetin Sarıkartal and Levent Üzümcü also in the cast.

The cinematographer is İsmail Hakkı Ceyhun. It played in the competition programmes of the Antalya and Istanbul film festivals. One critic called it a lovely surprise and wrote that "Questioning" would have been a better international title.

DirectorLeylâ Yılmaz
Not Knowing (Bilmemek)

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Cast

Çetin Sarıkartal Çetin Sarıkartal Film actor · 67 years old Levent Üzümcü Levent Üzümcü Actor · 54 years old Senan Kara Senan Kara Actor · 48 years old Yurdaer Okur Yurdaer Okur Actor · 52 years old Emir Özden Emir Özden Actor · 30 years old

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

In Bilmemek, Leyla Yılmaz writes a script that centres the state of questioning without reducing identity to a debate over labels. The real skill lies in braiding the teenager's story with his parents' worn-out marriage: Umut's disappearance becomes a mirror in which Selma and Sinan see they lost themselves long ago. Emir Özden, Senan Kara and Yurdaer Okur give performances able to carry this three-cornered tension. At 95 minutes it is tight, though the stretches where the gossip spreads sometimes edge towards a familiar drama template. Its place in the Antalya and Istanbul competitions is no surprise; as one critic suggested, the title "Questioning" would have suited it better.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Bilmemek follows a high-school student who becomes the target of gossip at school, and his unhappy parents. The subject is sensitive and heavy, not for young children. But for parents of teenagers it is a thought-provoking film. It reminds you how much it matters to really listen to your child. Watching it with high-school-age kids and talking afterwards could be worthwhile.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

It is not a thriller, let me say that up front. For a long stretch Bilmemek moves at the slow pace of a tired marriage and gossip spreading at school, and those parts dragged for me. When Umut vanishes the film suddenly tightens, and the search creates real unease. I wish that tension had arrived sooner. Still, at 95 minutes, it pays off if you are patient.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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