I have never rooted for characters as much as I did in Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s, French masterpiece, Mustang. Set in modern day rural village in northern Turkey, five wild sisters (think Haim minus the instruments) embrace their luscious wavy locks and curious minds to transform into sexual young adults. However, their tempting behavior is frowned upon in conservative Muslim households like theirs. Ergüven’s take on a coming of age piece is gripping and her use of natural light to guide her tale is eloquent.
The opening scene in Mustang is a familiar one for most young girls: laughing with friends, making jokes and playing chicken in the Black Sea with cute boys. However, when word spreads around the girls tiny village that the sisters snuck into a neighbors yard to eat apples following their scandalous chicken incident, their grandmother and vile uncle place them under strict house arrest. Stripping the teens of their most valued yet promiscuous items such as makeup, lingerie, cell phones, computers and ripped denim, the girls trade in their graphic tee’s for “shapeless shit colored” dresses. They fear for their life and their girlhood. As the youngest and most outspoken sister, Lale begrudgingly watches her siblings being pawned off one by one to undeserving suitors, she yearns for freedom and life outside of their constrained “wife factory.”
Every moment the sisters share the screen they are drowned with light and emitting love. Ergüven aptly uses light to capture the youthful essence of the girls and to unearth hope that at times can seem absent. By containing the girls while teaching them only how to cook, sew and clean for their future husband, they are even more drawn to the crisp stimulating glow from the outside world.
Mustang reinforces the reality that the budding sexuality of a woman cannot be masked or barred. The film dives deep under your skin and into your aching heart, as these young girls must battle to protect their inseparable sibling bond and their own essence. They evolve from being sisters to best friends, to their own escape.
These five young women are impossible not to watch and develop a heartening fondness for, as their chemistry is electrifying. Ergüven bound together an exemplary cast which includes 4 inexperienced leads to tell a story that to some extent, we know a bit too well.
Deniz Gamze Ergüven grew up in Turkey but was relocated and raised in France, where like many young people of the population grew to become a bona fide cinefile. Mustang, bases off of Sofia Coppola’s, The Virgin Suicides is the first feature film by the director and France’s pick for Best Foreign Language film in this years Oscars.
Watch the trailer for Mustang below:
Who Should See It : Fans of The Virgin Suicides, Girlhood and The Wolfpack.
Who Shouldn’t See It : People who are threatened by teenage girls.
Mustang is Now Playing at IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in NYC.
Review by Danielle O’Neill . You can follow her on Twitter @doneill13.
