There are an ample number of movies out there that seek to reunite families or mend their bonds through the course of a road trip. The Festival of Troubadours that released on Netflix on September 2, 2022, is a slow-moving intimate road trip that brings a lot of old memories of the father-son duo to the brim.
The Turkish movie written and directed by Ozcan Alper can be a spellbinding journey for some. Since it majorly tracks a father’s relationship with his son after being away from him for twenty-five years over a road trip, the film displays a lot of natural landscapes along the way. These calming and still sights seen on their journey are in stark contrast with the emotions brewing up to the surface inside the car.
All throughout the duration of The Festival of Troubadours, the son Yusuf, played by Kivanc Tatlitug, is often seen removing himself from the scene to put distance between him and his father. He does so to contain the rising tide of his fury that he’s somehow successfully kept at bay all these years. The one question of the hour that troubles him till the very end is why his father never made an effort to reach out to him in the course of the past twenty-five years.
-The Festival of Troubadours Review Contains Mild Spoilers-
Whimsy Ali’s (played by Settar Tanriogen) reputation precedes him. He is a travelling traditional music maestro spreading the beauty and grace of Turkish folk music. However, to Yusuf, he is just a father who abandoned his son only to turn up at his door, ailing and unannounced. He never lets out a word about his ailment or that he is terminal; Yusuf has to figure it out himself. As one can envision, this puts him in a dilemma of whether to leave him as is or give it one last go to mend their bond.
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The following storyline leads them to travel to Arkanya and then Kars, granting them hours of deafening silence at length. The few times Yusuf tries to raise questions to clear his own conscience as a means to seek closure for his lost years of youth, he is let down. His question is left hanging in the air even by the end of the movie itself. One can almost conclude that the writer makes a deliberate choice of leaving things unsaid, which is what makes this drama even more poignant.
The ultimate aim is to make it to The Festival of Troubadours as the title explains. Additionally, the movie is also quite predictable and the ending is somewhat foreshadowed right at the beginning itself. One knows the inevitable end and yet there is this need to reach the end to see for oneself if Yusuf and Whimsy’s relationship gets resolved or not.
The two make several pitstops along the way, otherwise, there isn’t much action or movement happening to keep the average viewer engaged. One can also discern that Whimsy Ali is asking his son to stop at various places in an attempt to redeem himself by apologizing to all the people he hurt during his life. It’s a steady build-up and comes across as his one last wish to make it all sound and better before bidding his farewell.
The Festival of Troubadours: Worth Watching?
To find the answer to this question, one must ask oneself what it is that one craves while watching a movie. The Festival of Troubadours doesn’t make any grand gestures to keep you around. On the contrary, it plays out warm and delicate cards and parallelisms in moments when the two share a brief moment of awkward yet soft silent exchange before clicking a selfie together. The same is reminiscent of the time when they had the old portrait taken when Yusuf was but a young boy.
Turkish Folk music gatherings are probably the most authentic attraction of the movie, making way for an additional personal touch.
So, yes it’s worth the watch, at least once. Yet again, it is not everyone’s cup of tea because the film is quite reserved. One can see that there are a lot of emotions being suppressed therein by the characters, thereby giving it depth and adding layers to the silence that pervades till the end. However, not everyone can sit through it all, especially since it moves along slowly.
The Festival of Troubadours is now streaming on Netflix. The English dubbed version for the same is also available on the platform along with subtitles.
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