The British Channel 4 used to show European art house cinema every Friday evening in the late nineties. Sometimes it was more art house, and other times it was perhaps less so. Whether it was Fellini or Kieslowski, they all had lengthy introductions by high minded film critic Mark Kermode.
Looking back, it is hard to tell what caused me, a 16 year old boy, to stay up late in order to watch this obscure classic of Turkish cinema (perhaps an interest in Anatolian folklore, or a love of the Cyclades and its unique architecture? Maybe just a dedication to and love of pure cinema?), but Kermode’s 20 minute introduction, which focused primarily on the film’s bold exploration of themes of alienation and subversive deployment of mise en scene, really stuck with me as an avantgarde classic in its own right.