‘The Wild Pear Tree’ Teaser: Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Cannes Standout Looks Gorgeous

A few weeks after premiering at Cannes, Nuri Bilge Ceylan‘s “The Wild Pear Tree” already has a teaser. The Turkish auteur has a storied history at the festival — his last film, “Winter Sleep,” won the Palme d’Or, and he’s previously been awarded the Grand Prix (“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” 2011) and Best Director (“Three Monkeys,” 2008) prizes as well — but his latest left France empty-handed despite strong reviews.

In his Cannes review, IndieWire’s Eric Kohn writes that the film is “brisk” by Ceylan’s standards despite its imposing three-hour running time and “maintains a visual sophistication unparalleled” in international cinema. Here’s the film’s very brief synopsis: “An aspiring writer returns to his native village in rural Turkey, where he becomes overwhelmed by his father’s debts.”

The minute-long teaser is wordless and gives little sense of the plot, but it does make it clear that Ceylan’s visual mastery indeed remains intact. Aydin Doğu Demirkol, Murat Cemcir, Bennu Yıldırımlar, and Hazar Ergüçlü star in “The Wild Pear Tree,” which has yet to secure stateside distribution.