Mustang: a French insight into the Oscars debate
In the troubled times of the Oscars Debate about the lack of diversity in the art industry, Mustang’s nomination to the 88th Academy Award remains ever relevant.
This beautiful movie directed by the Turkish-born and French-raised film director Deniz Gamze Ergüven is about the story of five young sisters in Turkey, fighting for freedom, trying to break the society’s rules. So in the male nominations of the Academy Awards we found finally, a film by a woman, about women identity, in a country where their place is debated, with first-roles actresses.
Early summer. In a village in northern Turkey, Lale and her four sisters are walking home from school, playing innocently with some boys. The immorality of their play sets off a scandal that has unexpected consequences. The family home is progressively transformed into a prison; instruction in homemaking replaces school and marriages start being arranged. The five sisters who share a common passion for freedom, find ways of getting around the constraints imposed on them.
Here’s the trailer: https://youtu.be/E5nyY8E6CPg
Warning! This film isn’t just for women, it’s to promote freedom through an initiative which raises the issue of a general debate about girls and education. Mustang is about the weight of culture, tradition and society that the five girls have to face. Deniz Gamze Ergüven builds up subtility the increase of society’s obstacles with adolescence. But the film doesn’t plunge into stereotypes. We also have beautiful male portraits like Yasin, the young man who helped the girls to have more freedom.
Mustang seems to plunge us in a dream, the imaginary world of Lale as the narration is done through her eyes, the eyes of the only one who remains a child, and not yet bound with the ties of adulthood. The pure aesthetic of the film, with a particular focus on a bright light creates a smooth and light atmosphere. But the dream turns into a nightmare. We see this little girl who has chosen to face, to go against society and what we expect from her. Her innocence makes the purity of her actions and creates the beauty of the film. She is the Mustang - the savage horse galloping for freedom.
So we hope this film wins plenty of awards at the Cesar ceremony (8 nominations!) but also at the Awards Academy for the Best Foreign Language Film like Amour by Michael Haneke did in 2012. But the competition seems to be very tough...
Here’s the list of all the films in competition for the Best Foreign Language Film Award for the 88th Academy Awards:
Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia) in Spanish – Ciro Guerra
Mustang (France) in Turkish – Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Son of Saul (Hungary) in Hungarian – László Nemes
Theeb (Jordan) in Arabic – Naji Abu Nowar
A War (Denmark) in Danish – Tobias Lindholm
Fingers crossed!