Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2012)
91%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: Won 2 Oscars
143 wins & 380 nominations total
Cerebral and thrilling, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is a meditative procedural that maintains feverish intensity throughout its unhurried runtime.
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is like a really long book that you can’t put down, even if your butt starts to hurt from sitting in an uncomfortable chair. It’s a police procedural that’s also an existential inquiry, set in a remote dreamscape of mystery and foreboding. But don’t worry, it’s not all darkness – there are moments of dark humor that will make you chuckle. And the cinematography is stunning, like a work of art. If you’re willing to give yourself a mental shot in the arm and embrace its patient, visually-enthralling style, you’ll be rewarded with a deeply resonant cinematic experience that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm,
Distributor
Cinema Guild
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language throughout, some strong graphic violence, drug use, and sexual references
Year of Release
2012
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 37m
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Language(s):English, Italian, Spanish, German
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 4, 2012 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2012
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Firat Tanis, Ercan Kesal, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, written by Ercan Kesal, Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Stanley Kauffmann, Wesley Morris, Michael O’Sullivan, Sheri Linden, Donald Clarke, Derek Malcolm, Muhammet Uzuner as Cemal, Yilmaz Erdogan as Naci, Taner Birsel as Nusret, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan as Ali, Firat Tanis as Kenan, Ercan Kesal as Mukhtar, produced by Zeynep Ozbatur Atakan, MPAA rating, Turkish language, Cinema Guild, police procedural, mystery, human drama, existential inquiry, remote dreamscape, cerebral, thrilling, meditative procedural, feverish intensity, unhurried runtime
Worldwide gross: $374,565,754
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $432,793,701
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 356
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 47,196,696
US/Canada gross: $142,502,728
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $164,655,424
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 463
US/Canada opening weekend: $41,082,018
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $47,468,404
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 251
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $90,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $103,990,909
Production budget ranking: 386
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $55,999,104
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $272,803,688
ROI to date (est.): 171%
ROI ranking: 708
Yilmaz Erdogan – Naci
Taner Birsel – Nusret
Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan – Ali
Firat Tanis – Kenan
Ercan Kesal – Mukhtar
Director(s)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Writer(s)
Ercan Kesal, Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Producer(s)
Zeynep Ozbatur Atakan
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
Won 2 Oscars
143 wins & 380 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (79) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (73) | Rotten (6)
Ceylan’s own growing reputation will, I hope, continue to grow. He uses the realistic film as an avenue to what lies around and beyond the realism.
June 19, 2013
Stanley Kauffmann
The New Republic
TOP CRITIC
It runs 157 minutes, and I can’t say you don’t feel them. You do – but in the way you would, reading a very good book in an uncomfortable chair.
May 16, 2012 | Rating: 3.5/4
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
A movie of such dark, smoldering intensity that it’s easy to forget that half of it takes place in near darkness.
May 11, 2012 | Rating: 4/4
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
A police procedural as existential inquiry, set in a remote dreamscape of mystery and foreboding.
April 5, 2012 | Rating: 3.5/5
Sheri Linden
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
The denouement offers a satisfactory conclusion to a drama that, in its scope, rigour and discipline, confirms Ceylan as a contemporary master.
March 19, 2012 | Rating: 4/5
Donald Clarke
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
This is the best controlled film of this major director – even one of the best films of the past year.
March 16, 2012 | Rating: 4/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
As the title suggests, Ceylan’s new film unfolds like a good book. What seems a police procedural on the surface, Anatolia is a deeply felt human drama that is rich and nuanced as any great Russian novel.
February 28, 2021
Dustin Chang
Floating World
As meditative as it is methodical, stunningly photographed, and as existentially provocative as anything Albert Camus ever wrote.
August 11, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Michael J. Casey
Boulder Weekly
An opaque but excellent film, if you can give yourself the mental shot in the arm that may be required as the film begins its lengthy wrapping up process, you will be witness to an excellent piece of artistic cinema.
February 13, 2020
Jim Ross
TAKE ONE Magazine
Each new discovery is as pleasurable and as thought provoking as the last, adding up to a deeply resonant cinematic experience that continues to grow in estimation upon further reflection.
August 6, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia was one of the highlights of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it took home the Grand Prix.
March 18, 2019
Duncan Gray
MUBI
Those that can embrace its patient, visually-enthralling style and sparse, yet affecting dialogue will be rewarded with a film of grand ambition, delving deep into the human condition and questioning our very moral fabric.
December 19, 2018 | Rating: 5/5
Daniel Green
CineVue…
Plot
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The ninth film from the writer-director features a large ensemble cast and multiple storylines in a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast of Once Upon a Time in Anatolia includes Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Firat Tanis, and Ercan Kesal.
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