Before Snowfall

Director: Hisham Zaman/Starring: Abdullah Taher, Suzan Ilir and Bahar Ozen

Hisham Zaman's Before Snowfall is a brilliant jewel; a singular gem both original and captivating. It seems all the more incredible when one considers the extraordinary performances by the non-professional cast. That the story begins with the beauty of arid, deserty Iraqi-Kurdistan, unfolds in the blighted, city-streets of Istanbul and ends in a Norwegian wintry countryside is a testament to Zaman's feverish and expansive imagination. His film is unsentimental, immediate and powerful.

Zaman's film makes us a travelling companion to the protagonist Siyar (Abdullah Taher), a young man shouldering man-of-the-family duties for his mother and two sisters in a small village in Iraqi-Kurdistan. This rural world seems so far removed from that of iPads, iPhones and Twitter it could just as well be Alpha Centauri as a middle-eastern country.

Siyar's sister Nermin (Bahar Ozen), is to be married to the son of a wealthy and influential Kurd named Aga (Mohammed Tejir). Aga arrives in a convoy of cars and is attended by an intimidating entourage of male relatives, who are hosted by Siyar's family. It is particularly unnerving to see the young Siyar face a group of older men as they negotiate his sister Nermin's marriage to Aga's son.

Siyar discovers his sister is seeing a man not her fiance and before he can put a stop to the assignations, Nermin and her lover flee the village. Facing familial disgrace and dishonor, Siyar travels to Istanbul, where he learns his sister has taken up residence with her lover. With the powerful Aga's resources and information, Siyar is able to follow leads and gather information as to her whereabouts. It is tacitly acknowledged by all concerned that he means to kill Nermin to restore family honor.

Taher was well-cast. His intense, burning eyes and penetrating gaze are a perfect compliment to his monomaniacal committment to his mission, which he pursues with demonic determination.

After an associate of Aga's provides Siyar a room in a run-down hotel, he continues his search but with little luck. One day, while buying food from a street vendor, he is robbed by two street urchins, one of whom he chases with the same determination that brought him to Istanbul. After catching the thief, he learns his would-be robber is actually a girl named Evin, who he eventually befriends.

While Siyar searches for his sister, he is introduced to Evin's hardscrabble life; an existence defined by slumlife and petty theft.

Siyar manages to track Nermin, who sees that her knife-wielding brother means to kill her. In spite of Siyar's efforts, his sister manages a narrow escape. The next day, Siyar discovers his sister has left Istanbul for Berlin. When Evin learns of his imminent departure, she asks to follow him to Berlin, where she hopes find her father.

Their passage to Berlin comes only after a series of struggles, which are accomplished by dangerous, clandestine means. As they and other refugees brave the harrowing obstacles along the way, they are captured in a Greek forest by police who demand the name of their smuggler. Trying to spare Evin the police officers' humiliating demand to strip, Siyar names the smugglers; an act that will carry devastating repercussions.

Siyar discovers his sister has eluded him yet again in Berlin, which means crossing another border and searching another city; this time Oslo. Meanwhile, Siyar and Evin find her father, which proves to be a heart-rending disappointment. As a romantic attachment to Siyar burgeons, Evin follows him on his north-bound quest.

While Siyar meets with another contact in Oslo, a casual meeting between Evin and a stranger proves to be very ominous.

Siyar's search leads to an inevitable, unforeseen and tragic conclusion. We see how the fallout from Nermin's defiant disregard for tradition has a far-reaching, powerful and life-altering effect on her family and indirectly, Evin's relationship with Siyar.

I've seen few films in 2014 as good as Before Snowfall. It is a film with startling contrasts: The innocence of the rural vs the worldly experience of the urban, traditional values vs protean, moral relativism and circumscribed female freedom vs more unbounded female liberties, to mention a few.

The film also has us consider how Siyar is rigidly tethered to hidebound, cultural, moral codes; suffocating rules from which Nermin hopes to flee. How this morality is unreasonably conceived, dictated and enforced by males leaves Siyar, Nermin and their younger sister with little self-determination and few means to liberate themselves from said rules they are unable or unwilling to defy. Of course this can be weighed against Siyar and his culture's sacrosanct regard for family honor, whose transgression provides a reasonable pretext to kill--even family members.

It is also mind-boggling to measure the impact of Nermin's refusal to allow two parties of men to determine her future. More so is Siyar's fierce, unwavering pursuit of his goal and how the code he risks his life to protect and uphold clashes with the crude don't snitch code of the street.

Talented directors can coax a terrific performance from anyone; professionals and non-professionals alike. Zaman does so with consummate skill.

There is much about the film's visuals that will leave a lasting impression. Images of desert beauty mingle with shots of slum-decay and seedy, filthy backstreets. The opening scene of Siyar being mummified in plastic wrap in preparation for a smuggling is unforgettably surreal.
Before Snowfall is a masterfully told story; one not likely to take flight from someone's memory or imagination. It is a universe unto itself, one whose limitless reaches invite limitless interpretations.