Winter Sleep

This Turkish Palme d'Or winner comes with a lot of baggage, not least its 196-minute running time. But for those willing to spend the time to check in - the lead character, Aydin (Haluk Bilginer), runs a remote hotel in central Anatolia - Winter Sleep is not only a fantastically well-scripted and performed commentary on the rifts in modern society, it also looks stunning, capturing the strange rock formations of the region to captivating effect. Initially, Aydin seems somewhat detached from the people around him; an academic and a former actor, he pontificates on life in a smug and somewhat patronising column he writes for a local newspaper. But as winter closes in and business dries up, Aydin finds himself in conflict with those closest to him (like his young wife and his divorced sister). Talky it may be, but the acting is sublime, with director Nuri Bilge Ceylan able to contrast staggering, almost alien landscapes with scenes as intimate as anything on the West End stage.