The latest feature film of Hakkı Kurtuluş and Melik Saraçoğlu, “Together, We Shall Die”, finally premiered on Mubi after a long shooting schedule and festival screenings. The film can be described as an example of poetic cinema or a long love letter. It pays tribute to the great masters of cinema such as Andrei Tarkovsky (moments when characters are left alone and framed), Ingmar Bergman (especially his film “Scenes from a Marriage“, Terrence Malick (including nature as a player in the film), and Wong Kar-Wai (the film occasionally pausing and flowing in line with the characters’ internal dynamics).

The film focuses on the love story of doctor Mazhar and music teacher Ece. First of all, I think that the film has been unfairly treated in some aspects at the festivals it has participated in. The film features a very skillful direction, cinematography by Cansu Boğuşlu, production design by Billur Turan, a well-crafted color palette, and music usage. Despite some occasional flaws in the screenplay and including elements that do not contribute to the main story in terms of dramaturgy, the love story at the core is quite authentic. Özgür Emre Yıldırım and Su Kutlu give very good acting performances in portraying Mazhar and Ece, whose characters and relationships contain ups and downs. The single-shot opening scene starting at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum references to Sarcophagus of the Mourning Women in the museum, and the other sequences in the museum are quite impressive.

This is unfortunately the last film in which the Green Pine legend Süleyman Turan appeared. The film is dedicated to him and there is also a plotline revolving around him. The film successfully addresses issues such as discrimination, brain drain, violence against women and doctors, family pressure, and lack of aesthetics. Together, We Shall Die is one of the original Turkish films released in recent times that should be watched with attention to its details.