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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Sev beni" or "Люби меня" or "Lyuby Mene")

 

directed by Maryna Gorbach, Mehmet Bahadir Er
Turkey/Ukraine 2013

 

Sasha (Viktoria Spesivtseva) desperately wants to have a baby. When her married lover goes back to his wife, Sasha decides to target a foreigner for a one night stand in order to achieve her goals. Fortunately, Cemal (Ushan Çakir) has been dragged from Istanbul to Kiev by his uncle (Güven Kiraç) and randy cousin (co-director Mehmet Bahadir Er) for his bachelor party and is immediately struck by the sight of the seemingly cold and aloof Sasha (who he initially believes wants to harvest his organs when she insists he wash up so she can poke holes in his condoms). Their assignation is interrupted, however, when Sasha's mother (Olena Stefanska) shows up to tell her that her grandmother (Margaryta Kosheleva) has escaped from the nursing home again, and Sasha drags Cemal along in search of the old woman. Despite not sharing the same culture or language - apart from some common words in English - the two bond over a series of misunderstandings and misadventures that leave Cemal reluctant to return to Istanbul to get married. When Sasha discovers that Cemal is soon-to-be-wed, will she proceed with her plan or return his burgeoning affection?

A Turkish/Ukranian production - the second from the married directing team of Mehmet Bahadir Er and Maryna Gorbach after BLACK DOGS BARKING - LOVE ME makes its viewers fall in love with two characters whose immediate social and cultural backgrounds seem to be cynical about the very idea of love. While Sasha is more concerned with having a baby than in a partner, her mother upon seeing her with Cemal refers to him as a "wog" and asks if he is at least rich. Cemal is already apprehensive about getting married, but he balks at his uncle and cousin impressing upon him the marriage and children are more or less a convention and basically "what happens in Kiev stays in Kiev." Hampered by language barriers, the couple reveal their feelings to one another through deeds and a few words learned in each other's language sometimes insufficient like the Turkish and Russian translations of "thank you" or misused/misunderstood like "Lubish" (love). The ending is refreshingly bittersweet rather than escapist on one extreme or cynical on the other.

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 18 October 2013 (Turkey)

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DVD Review: Film Movement - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

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Distribution

Film Movement

Region 1 - NTSC

Runtime 1:29:36
Video

2.40:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.96 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate

Audio Turkish/Russian/Ukranian/English Dolby Digital 5.1; Turkish/Russian/Ukranian/EnglishDolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles English, none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Film Movement

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.40:1

Edition Details:
� Director Biographies
� Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 1:03)
� Short Film 'The Queen' by Manuel Abramovich (16:9; 18:16)
� Film Movement Trailers

DVD Release Date: February 24th, 2015
Amaray

Chapters 12

 

Comments

Film Movement's progressive, anamorphic encode of this Arri Alexa-photographed film sports fair detail for standard definition with great expanses of black and white (from the snowy landscapes to Sasha's furs) can sometimes look flatter than it really is. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is generally expansive for the exteriors and nightclub scenes while receding to the front with very little in the surrounds for more intimate scenes (a 2.0 stereo down mix is also included). The optional English subtitles are fairly successful at translating much of the rapidly-spoken and sometimes overlapping dialogue (sometimes in more than one language).

Extras for the film include the trailer and biographies, but the disc also includes a short film from Argentina, as well as trailers for six other Film Movement releases, including HUMAN CAPITAL, Italy's submission for the 2015 Oscars Best Foreign Language Film category.

  - Eric Cotenas

 


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DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

 

 

Distribution

Film Movement

Region 1 - NTSC

 



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