Apart from some stunning cinematography, this film exposes a dysfunctional family to the scrutiny of the viewer and yet is incapable of provoking any feelings. If the characters stir absolutely no sympathy in you whatsoever -which was my case- the film becomes a profoundly irritating journey into a world of hopeless humanity.

Contains spoilers: Eyüp, who works as a driver for a politician (Servet), agrees to take the blame for a hit and run and goes to jail for nine months instead of Servet. In return, his family gets paid his monthly pay-check as well as an additional lump sum. Eyüp's wife Hacer, apart from working whilst her absolutely pathetic son Ismael sleeps all day, ends up having an affair with Servet. The son ends up killing the politician and Eyüp convinces a poor bastard, even worse off than himself, to take the blame for his son in return for a lump sum when he gets out of prison.

Rather than being a character study of the dysfunctional characters, in order to explain how they got where they are, the film sits back and shows a segment of what seems to be normality in a pointless world. Worlds such as these may well exist, but the decision to present a glimpse of a life in such a hermetic way does not help to draw you into such an alien reality. The title is misleading as things are seen, and are heard, and actions are taken as a result - though admittedly little is ever spoken. (It is diffidult to understand why Nuri Bilge Ceylan was awarded Best Director in Cannes.)

To top it all, some of the behaviour depicts a profoundly male chauvinist attitude and portrays associated behaviour as absolutely normal. The female character -reduced to wife, mother and desperate mistress- is caught in a circular viscous circle of playing victim and never acts according to her own will.

It is however worth highlighting Gökhan Tiryaki's astounding cinematography which creates a beautifully atmospheric backdrop to the mundanity.