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Winter Sleep

Play trailer Poster for Winter Sleep Released Dec 19, 2014 3h 16m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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87% Tomatometer 85 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Aydin, his wife and his recently divorced sister spend the winter in their hotel.
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Winter Sleep

Winter Sleep

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Critics Consensus

Epic in length, thrilling to behold, and utterly absorbing, Winter Sleep demands -- and rewards -- viewers' patient attention.

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Critics Reviews

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Tomris Laffly Film School Rejects Ceylan's deeply observant, quiet epic might leave you detached at first, but this is the kind of work that aims to creep up on and haunt you in the long haul, in many not instantly recognizable ways. Rated: B+ Aug 4, 2015 Full Review Peter Keough Boston Globe Such miserable people; why should we care? Maybe because Ceylan does. Rated: 4/4 May 21, 2015 Full Review Ann Hornaday Washington Post The easy gag about the 196-minute "Winter Sleep" is that it's so good it makes 3  1/2 hours feel like two, but that's no joke. Rated: 4/4 Jan 29, 2015 Full Review Wael Khairy The Cinephile Fix ...one of the greatest films ever made. Apr 15, 2024 Full Review Diego Batlle Otroscines.com Winter Sleep is a distressing and desolating story about class differences, religious conflicts in a society that's predominately Muslim, and the inner contradictions of those who propose political correctness... [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 4/5 Apr 26, 2023 Full Review Jordan M. Smith IONCINEMA.com There is great density within the richly spoken dialogue that endlessly flows throughout the film, but it's almost as if the ideas that flourish through spoken thoughts end up nearing drowning the purely cinematic aspects of the film. Rated: 3/5 Oct 27, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Dave S Arguably Nuri Bilge Ceylan's masterpiece, Winter Sleep is the story of Aydin (Haluk Bilginer), a former actor who has retired to a remote region of Turkey, dedicating time to operating a small hotel, writing a book, and managing properties inherited from his father. Compassionate by nature, he finds himself troubled by his difficulty relating to his family, friends and tenants, causing him to reevaluate his interpersonal relationships. While the visuals are often stunning, the film's success rests in its thought-provoking dialogue and the performances of its actors, most notably Bilginer in the lead role. Clocking in at well over three hours, it does require some patience but will hold the interest of the attentive viewer. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/15/23 Full Review cy n It is extra beautiful to watch while it is snowing outside and you are in your warm room. This movie has something from anyone's life, gives deep emotions. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review zeynep b The film tells the cross-sectional story of a group of people who have essentially a deep insight into their own shortcomings and unconscious, but who are nevertheless arrogant enough to point fingers at the unconscious minds of others rather than confront themselves with theirs. Throughout the film, we are constantly bombarded with the hopes of confronting the unconscious, expecting to be awakened from this "winter sleep" with each tirade, but ultimately all the characters decide and manage to avoid it and "keep sleeping" by taking the way that provides short-term comfort to them. In order to make sense of all this escape, the characters also try to prove the righteousness of their escape and the importance of their existence in a world, which doesn't really care about them. They also do it, by painting it with "honorable and right behavior". Necla tries to be visible in the eyes of her ex-husband and even considers turning her other cheek, Nihal creates a community and offers a fortune to help the imam's family, which, by the way, was neither requested nor accepted, and Aydin, unlike other theater actors who sold their dignity, managed to remain loyal to the theater for 25 years, is almost disgustingly humble to be an anonymous contributor in charity donations and also again humble enough to be satisfied by his audience in a small local newspaper -where he also reveals his wish to be someone important by saying that he can easily be "the king" there. Ultimately, this movie shows how we put ourselves and our reality into "winter sleep" to avoid discomfort. At its very core, it is a quest for self-fulfillment, separation, and self-affirmation that is doomed to fail. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member good slow movie reminds me someone who i love. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Absolutely brilliant! Subtle interpretation of Russian classical literature Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Remote hotel in Turkey, the owner's much younger wife is dissatisfied, his divorced sister picks fights and he has tenants that are way behind on payments. For 3 hours, it's convincing but not riveting. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Winter Sleep

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Aydin, his wife and his recently divorced sister spend the winter in their hotel.
Director
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Producer
Zeynep Özbatur Atakan
Screenwriter
Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Distributor
Adopt Films
Production Co
Bredok Filmproduction, Zeynofilm, Memento Films, NBC Film
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Turkish
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 19, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 5, 2016
Runtime
3h 16m
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