Üç maymun (2008)

Director:

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Writers:

Ebru Ceylan (screenplay) &
Ercan Kesal (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 October 2008 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A family suffers from a major communication breakdown during their struggle to to get through their hardships.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Prison | Politics | Bosporus | Desperation

Awards:

7 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Yavuz Bingol	...	Eyüp (as Yavuz Bingöl)
Hatice Aslan	...	Hacer
Ahmet Rifat Sungar	...	Ismail
Ercan Kesal	...	Servet
Cafer Köse	...	Bayram
Gürkan Aydin	...	Cocuk

Directed by
Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Writing credits
Ebru Ceylan		(screenplay) &
Ercan Kesal		(screenplay) &
Nuri Bilge Ceylan		(screenplay)

Produced by
Nuri Bilge Ceylan	....	co-producer
Valerio De Paolis	....	co-producer
Cemal Noyan	....	co-producer
Zeynep Ozbatur Atakan	....	producer (as Zeynep Özbatur)
Fabienne Vonier	....	co-producer

Cinematography by
Gökhan Tiryaki		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Ayhan Ergürsel
Bora Göksingöl

Casting by
Harika Uygur		(as Harika Uygur Ülkü)

Art Direction by
Ebru Ceylan

Makeup Department
Gülcan Bayar Öge	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ayhan Ergürsel	....	third assistant director
Eser Erzurum	....	second assistant director
Ayla Karli	....	first assistant director (as Ayla Karli Tezgören)

Art Department
Izel Altintas	....	art department
Narin Deniz Erkan	....	art department
Baris Matur	....	set
Samet Orhan	....	set
Yilmaz Yildirim	....	set

Sound Department
Furkan Atli	....	boom operator
Serkan Cetin	....	foley recordist (as Serkan Çetin)
Mustafa Durma	....	foley editor
Olivier Goinard	....	sound mixer
Umut Senyol	....	sound editor
Murat Senürkmez	....	sound
Jack Stew	....	foley artist
Burak Topalakci	....	foley artist assistant (as Burak Topalakçi)
Mert Özer	....	dubbing recordist

Visual Effects by
Kuban Altan	....	transfer supervisor
Murat Aydin	....	avid operator
Omer Serif Bilsel	....	inferno visual effects (as Ömer Serif Bilsel)
Yaman Derbent	....	inferno visual effects
Okan Duzalan	....	inferno visual effects (as Okan Düzalan)
Alp Enuysal	....	inferno visual effects
Bora Göksingöl	....	avid nitris visual effects
Bora Göksingöl	....	inferno effects supervisor
Bora Göksingöl	....	inferno visual effects
Michael Harrison	....	inferno visual effects
Nuri Memis	....	avid technical support
Tijen Pal	....	inferno effects coordinator
Daniel Sanders	....	inferno visual effects
Bulent Tanoba	....	film transfer
Ozgur Taparli	....	film transfer

Camera and Electrical Department
Altug Acar	....	panther operator
Ismail Ay	....	panther assistant
Mehmet Basbaran	....	panther operator (as Mehmet Basaran)
Mustafa Cengiz	....	camera maintenance
Salih Dikmen	....	second assistant camera
Eser Erzurum	....	behind the scenes camera
Eser Erzurum	....	still photographer
Serkan Gulguler	....	first assistant camera (as Serkan Gülgüler)
Serhat Ozcan	....	lights (as Serhad Özcan)
Ahmet Seçkin	....	panther assistant
Mucahit Vural	....	lights (as Mücait Vural)
Aykut Çaylak	....	panther assistant
Mehmet Ömür	....	still photographer
Süleyman Öztürk	....	lights

Editorial Department
Bülent Bayraktar	....	trailer
Ayhan Ergürsel	....	post-production assistant
Bora Göksingöl	....	colorist
Bora Göksingöl	....	on-line editor
Süleyman Göktas	....	negative developer
Ersan Gümüs	....	printing
Kenan Hürsan	....	negative developer
Sinan Kiliç	....	negative developer
Ayhan Kisa	....	printing
Mustafa Koc	....	printing (as Mustafa Koç)
Cengiz Koç	....	negative developer
Yusuf Ozbek	....	laboratory manager (as Yusuf Özbek)
Ilhan Ozkan	....	negative developer (as Ilhan Özkan)
Hüseyin Sargin	....	negative developer
Ferhat Temel	....	trailer editor
Orhan Turgut	....	negative developer
Aydin Yeniçeri	....	negative developer
Serkan Yigitkoç	....	negative developer

Music Department
Yildiz Tilbe	....	phone music: Hacer

Transportation Department
Ahmet Akar	....	transportation
Mücait Albayrak	....	transportation
Özcan Asiltürk	....	transportation
Kemal Yesim	....	transportation: Zeyno Film
Aladdin Çay	....	transportation

Other crew
Ebru Akin	....	finance: Zeyno Film
Pelin Aksoy	....	administrative coordinator: Sinefekt
Selin Arat	....	international production coordinator
Çagri Erdogan	....	production assistant
Eser Erzurum	....	location manager
Valérie Farthouat	....	overall office coordinator: Pyramide Productions
Vaira Giacconi	....	office: BiM Distribuzione
Ilkay Bahar Köseoglu	....	overall office coordinator: Zeyno Film
Philippe Leconte	....	legal adviser: Pyramide Productions
Antonio Medici	....	office: BiM Distribuzione
Ali Oyan	....	accounting: Zeyno Film
Stéphane Parthenay	....	international production coordinator
Yalçin Sen	....	location manager
Yalçin Sen	....	production assistant
Selen Tarim	....	legal adviser: Zeyno Film
Arda Topaloglu	....	production coordinator
Erdem Türkekul	....	legal adviser: Zeyno Film
Lucy Wood	....	subtitler

Production Companies

• Zeynofilm
• NBC Film
• Pyramide Productions
• BIM Distribuzione
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (with the participation of)
• Conseil de l'Europe (with the support of)
• Imaj Sound Post Production (in association with)
• Imaj (in association with)
• Ministry of Culture and Tourism (with the participation of)

Distributors

• Contact Film (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Imagine Films Distribution (2009) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Imagine Films Distribution (2009) (Luxembourg) (theatrical)
• Imagine Films Distribution (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2008) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Mozinet (2011) (Hungary) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Pyramide Distribution (2008) (France) (theatrical)
• Zeitgeist Films (2009) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Alliance (2008) (India) (all media)
• Argentina Video Home (2011) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Arsenal (2008) (Germany) (all media)
• Atalanta Filmes (2008) (Portugal) (all media)
• BIM Distribuzione (2008) (Italy) (all media)
• Cine Colombia (2008) (Colombia) (all media)
• EDKO Film (2009) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Fidalgo Films (2008) (Norway) (all media)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2008) (Switzerland) (all media)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2009) (Belgium) (DVD)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Imovision (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Maywin Media (2008) (Russia) (all media)
• MegaCom Film (MCF) (2008) (Yugoslavia) (all media)
• Mirada Distribution (2011) (Argentina) (all media)
• Mongrel Media (2008) (Canada) (all media)
• Mongrel Media (2009) (Canada) (DVD)
• New Wave Films (2008) (UK) (all media)
• Orlando Films (2009) (Israel) (all media)
• Suraya Filem (2008) (Indonesia) (all media)
• Suraya Filem (2008) (Malaysia) (all media)
• Suraya Filem (2008) (Singapore) (all media)
• Suraya Filem (2008) (Vietnam) (all media)

Other Companies

• Cinéstéréo  optical sound transfer
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Eclair  laboratory
• Fullset  set
• Imaj  post-production facilities
• Imaj  sound and mix studio
• Imaj  steadicam
• L.T.C.  optical sound development
• Melodika  dubbing studio
• Orion  lights
• Sinefekt  film transfer
• Sinefekt  laboratory
• Zound  foley studio

Also Known As:

"Three Monkeys" - International (English title), USA (new title)
"Le tre scimmie" - Italy
"Les trois singes" - France
"Tres monos" - Argentina (imdb display title), Spain
"Три обезьяны" - Russia
"3 Macacos" - Brazil
"3 Monkeys" - Denmark
"De tre aporna" - Sweden
"Drei Affen" - Germany (imdb display title)
"Három majom" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Os três Macacos" - Portugal
"Treis pithikoi" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Tres Monos: No veo, no escucho, no hablo" - Mexico
"Tri majmuna" - Croatia
"Trzy malpy" - Poland

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

Turkey | France | Italy

Language:

Turkish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Hong Kong:III | USA:Unrated | Brazil:14 | Sweden:11 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Istanbul, Turkey

Company:

Zeynofilm

Trivia:

'Yavuz Bingöl', playing the main character Eyüp, is also a famous folk singer in Turkey.

Goofs:

Continuity: Ismail's safety belt fastened on and off at consecutive cuts,while he is driving his father back from the prison.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan: always different, always the same.

There is something about Nuri Bilge Ceylan's films that have always set itself apart from other films on the international stage: its ability to resonate with an audience. Although set in Turkey his films' story lines have the ability to connect with an audience from any region while also being able to utilize a major city's inner-turmoil via its transmitting landscapes, exhaustive loneliness and its sheer beauty. And "Three Monkeys" is no exception.

The story is the most complex and inter-connected of Ceylan's career and because of this he opts to use actors with previous experience for the first time (outside of his actress wife in "Climates"). A series of hidden secrets and unfolding lies keeps the family distant and increasingly torn apart from each other until a breaking point brings them back full circle. The "best-laid-plans" aspect of the film gives it a tinge of film-noir as it uses this device to present the family in its wondrous failures.

Having seen each of Ceylan's previous works my first expectation before seeing this film was breathtaking cinematography (and it did not disappoint in the least). Seeing Ceylan present the wondrous rain clouds that burst and crash above the dusty traffic-filled streets of Istanbul throughout this film as well as many of his others never gets old. "Three Monkeys" itself starts with a beautiful presentation of a car riding hidden paths that circle inside a forest's midnight darkness before it disappears from sight completely perhaps evoking questions as to why anyone would need to make their way through such landscapes at such an hour but at the risk of being cliché: "c'est la vie".

The use of established actors provided some consolation for the audience who could believe and connect with three characters who slowly went about their lives of self-destruction and self-deception until all secrets and lies were laid out on the table for the whole family to bear. The father who went through great hardship for his family finds only heartbreak following his efforts, the guilt-ridden son who is haunted by the memory of a younger brother whose tragic death he feels responsible for and must now deal with the knowledge of a mother who has found the love and affection of another man who is simply using her. The wide array of camera angles and mixture of shots of varying range and clarity enables Ceylan to convey the feelings and thoughts of his characters while still allowing the audience to follow the foreshadowing plot.

The usual Ceylan trademarks resonate within "Three Monkeys" both technically and spiritually while also showing his audience that with each time-out and with each film he can take his stories and characters into a completely new direction while taking his audience along for the ride. The slow, motionless shots give the audience a silence that swells with his characters' feelings and showcases a family's ability to communicate without words. This film has the ability to simultaneously show an audience a beautiful city and its inhabitants while also revealing real-life characters who let their emotions go to the extreme due to jealousy, rage and lust which can be found within anyone in the world.

Note: At Cannes, Ceylan picked up the Best Director prize and the film was subsequently chosen by Turkey to be its nominee for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.