‘About Dry Grasses’ Review – A Completely Engrossing, Brilliant Character Study

As the snow lightly coats the once-grown-out grass, isolation and desolation kick in. While intimate conversations with teachers are held with tea in hand and lamps bringing in the only source of light, it doesn’t make finding the truth any easier to come by. The light eventually flickers. The grass eventually grows back. Yet the world doesn’t seem to get any easier to understand.

In About Dry Grasses — Turkey’s latest submission for Best International Film at the Academy Awards — the truth is purposefully left out of reach of both the characters and the audience. Set in a tight-knit community, Samet (Deniz Celiloglu) returns to a nearby school to teach after completing service for a few years. While he’s initially welcomed back by fellow teachers and students with warm smiles, Samet’s narrow grip on reality quickly falls apart after he’s accused of sexually harassing one of his students.

Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan returns with another engrossing and perfectly overwhelming 3-hour drama that digs remarkably deep into the psyche of the characters. Through Ceylan’s rich filmography (including Winter Sleep, the 2014 Palme d’Or winner), he’s commonly characterized for his incredibly long takes with few cuts. That trend carries through here, with each shot framed and blocked with so much care and thought as to the character’s emotional state. Ceylan has never been more in command of his craft.

There are a few instances throughout the film when Ceylan breaks his own rules, though — and to great effect. One such moment comes in the last hour of the film when Ceylan breaks the fourth wall of his creation for a few minutes: a completely unexpected revelation that is never addressed again. Ceylan remains so true to his vision throughout that we accept these bold swings with no question.

The film’s premise is increasingly relevant as sexual assault is being more openly talked about in the media, but Bilge Ceylan doesn’t take the approach audiences may expect. Rather than trying to get to the bottom of what actually happened, About Dry Grasses is more interested in exploring Samet as a character and how desperately and pathetically he latches onto external validations to pit his growing problems on. In the process, we learn more about Samet and how far he’s willing to go to prove his innocence not just to others but himself. Eventually, he’s forced to look deep within himself.

Another more free-spirited teacher, Nuray (Merve Dizdar), is the most clear challenge to Samet’s problematic worldview. Samet and his friend, Kenan (Musab Ekici), both begin to fascinate over her independence and individualism that is so vastly different from the other teachers they know. Simply watching the argument scene in which Nuray and Samet argue over politics and the state of the world cements why Dizdar won the 2023 Cannes Award for Best Actress. She brings such bold energy to Nuray’s character, easily making her stand out as the most interesting character in the cast.

While the performances across the board are excellent, it’s the screenplay written by Ceylan, Ebru Ceylan and Akın Aksu that keeps the film riveting through all 197 minutes. It’s the kind of script that flows so well with such specificity that it almost has a play-like quality. The film is so easy to get absorbed in, oftentimes simply through conversations between two people.

About Dry Grasses may not have been shortlisted for the Academy Awards despite rave reviews out of Cannes and TIFF. Nevertheless, the film deserves to stay in the conversation as one of the very best films of 2023. Ceylan has crafted yet another masterwork in his filmography that doesn’t provide easy answers about the human condition.

About Dry Grasses will debut in select theaters on February 23, 2024, courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywajc6S8YEg]