QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM KARLOVY VARY

Given the strict political censorship that president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan imposed on Turkish cinema (evidenced by the shocking last-minute cancellation of the Antalya Film Festival last October, the country’s oldest and most prestigious such event), one would assume that a movie about leftist revolutionaries being crushed and tortured by rightwing nationalists would be a no-go. Nothing in its Place has probably evaded such fate by safely moving the story to the 1970s, and by not making any particularly fiery anti-authoritarian statements, and overt connections to the present-day regime. It deserves credit for that. Sadly, there aren’t many other reasons to commend Burak Çevik’s fifth feature film.

Entirely shot in one take and inside one apartment over the course of 76 minutes, the story opens with a black-and-white television set announcing clashes between the far-left and the far-right in various parts of the nation, including Istanbul. These activists are portrayed as extremists, and there is no criticism of the government (neither on the news show nor on the actual film). The action, which is allegedly based on real-life events, takes place at night in a gloomy suburb of Ankara, the country’s capital (the environment is visible through the window).

Five idealistic students discuss Marx, the Soviet Union, Cuba, China,, the Chilean coup d’etat and the Argentinean dictatorship. They briefly mention “gauchistes” and “revisionists”, suggesting a highly factional political landscape. There is no insight of what these affiliations mean. What is clear is that these students shun the armed struggle in favour of the non-violent struggle. They pay a very dear price for that after two predictably sadistic fascists belonging to the Grey Wolves movement break into their apartment, subdue and gag them. They are punched and tortured as the two intruders demand that they “count the nine lights”, an ultranationalistic Turkish doctrine.

Despite the interesting premise, Nothing in its Place lacks vim and vigour. The good guys intone a working-class chant with the enthusiasm of five-year-old children in a birthday party. Despite its didactic ambitions, the contrived script does not teach viewers anything valuable. Their rhetoric is well-worn, the lines are boring, the acting is amateurish. The poor lads whimper uncontrollably during the entire ordeal. While their pacifist intentions might sound noble, these unfledged characters are hardly inspiring. An irritatingly ominous score desperately seeks to lift the story to no avail. The single-take wizardry isn’t remarkably sophisticated, either: the camera concentrates very long on objects (particularly a ceiling lamp), allowing time for the cast to reassemble. This could have been achieved with more conventional cuts.

Nothing in Its Place shows is the Proxima Competition of the 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. A missed opportunity to make a compelling artistic and political statement.