Su (Lavinya Ünlüer) is waiting for her dad Baba (Cansel Elcin) to return home with a present of her favourite ice cream but he shows up a tad drunk and empty handed. Wishing to keep the promise to his daughter, and against the wishes of his wife Anne (Özlem Conker), Baba and Su head out for a drive into the scenic Cappadocia region…
Writer/director Cansu Boguslu’s short film is one of contrasts and unspoken conflict, in which the frustrated Baba struggles to be the champion his daughter wishes him to be while consistently failing to meet those standards courtesy of the distractions provided by the local bar and his circle of male friends. There is clearly tension at home between Baba and Anne, captured by glances and sparse dialogue, tension which is pushed to one side by Su when there’s the potential to receive the treat of which she has been assured.
The nagging feeling that Baba is always on the edge of making a reckless, disastrous mistake rumbles insistently throughout and the foreboding score suggests that his decision to take Su on an adventure in his clearly inebriated state can only end in tragedy. Su’s excitement to join her father is both heartening and heart breaking as she raises Baba to hero status despite the fact that reality will almost certainly hit hard and her hopes will be dashed.
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This all works superbly due to the refusal of Boguslu’s screenplay to provide a neat solution to this particular domestic situation and the admirable work from his cast chimes with an uncomfortable truth that more than hints at wider cultural issues concerning the privileges of men and the expectations of others within the family unit.
Elcin plays Baba as a man whose thwarted ambitions and resignation with his lot in life stir a concealed anger and yet he still elicits sympathy when he puts his self-pity aside to focus on his child. Stealing the piece, however, is Ünlüer, delivering a wonderful, nuanced performance in which a look into the camera is worth a dozen lines of dialogue. Her scenes with Elcin carry an underlying anxiety which cuts through the proposed fun of their road trip and the overriding dread is impossible to shake.
Even as Su comes to the realisation that her father is deeply flawed, the stunning scenery of the region and the magic that can be found within the everyday gives her something to cling to, even as the viewer – and Su herself – suspects that matters are unlikely to change. It’s a moment of calm among the chaos and Boguslu handles the shift in tone expertly.
Down From The Clouds is confident, captivating filmmaking which never feels the need to spell out its intentions to the audience, often relying on what is not said to convey its message. It’s a fascinating snapshot of a society in which male dominance creates its own deep-rooted issues and features a genuine breakout star in the precociously talented Ünlüer.