On Boredom in Winter Sleep

Abstract

In this work, we focus on the film Winter Sleep (2014) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, whose works place special emphasis on various aspects of boredom. As one of the main figures in slow cinema, Ceylan, in this influential work of art, enable us to explore boredom through three main characters: Aydın (Haluk Bilginer), Nihal (Melisa Sözen) and Necla (Demet Akbağ). By taking a closer look at the film, we analyze both symbolism and the behavioral side of boredom as well as how the main characters, in our view, experience and represent distinct types of boredom. In this framework, we examine the issue of boredom and, sometimes, related despair as a result of social change. At the same time, this work partly concentrates on aspects of the socio-cultural structure of Turkey via the analysis of the main characters' suffering.