In a dystopian Turkey, the Government begins installing new TV antennas to homes throughout the country. Mehmet, a superintendent at a crumbling apartment complex, has to supervise the installation of the new antenna. When the broadcast it transmits begins to menace the residents of the apartment complex. Mehmet must seek out the spiteful entity. THE NIGHT BULLETIN reflects the oppressed society of today’s Turkey where freedom of speech is in jeopardy.
One of the pieces of advice people gave me for Fantastic Fest was “go with the flow, don’t plan too hard.” “The Antenna” was one of my first completely random selections for Fantastic Fest. I went in completely empty, no previous knowledge of the film. I discovered a slow-paced Turkish thriller with so much to say about propaganda and state-run media that it languished in its message delivering more of a dream than a story.
“The Antenna” takes place in a cold Turkish environment. Mehmet (Ihsan Önal), the insomniac security guard/handyman, observes the installation of a new satellite dish mandated by the government. After the install man falls off the building Mehmet’s suspicion mounts. The tenants fail to realize a viscous black goo invades every apartment room until it’s too late. The goo takes over loved ones, murders families. Mehmet struggles to find his way through this slow-creeping terror.
The creeping pace of the film matches its slow-oozing shot goo. Shots last what feel like minutes languishing in its sublime emotional context. It stretches the mood of the film for what feels like an eternity. This slowed down pace allows breathing room for other elements of the film: sound, camera, art department.
In this movie, every noise can be heard to startling effect. The post-sound team did an effective job highlighting every water drop, footstep, and knob turn that the camera singularly focuses on. The film makes use of its sound design to turn a scene into an immersive soundscape matching its intense cinematography. Thankfully, a powerful score brings the film to its conclusion, helping rein in my wandering eye after so many long frames.
Ultimately, the film resides more in allegory than it does in genuine narrative. Yes, there is a narrative loosely applied here and characters you root for or against. Still, the film concentrates its energy on God’s eye views of sparse landscapes or ’90s era television sets. From the Q&A, director Orcun Behram suggested that the foreboding message of propaganda machines hints directly to Turkish politics. I know extremely little about Erdogan so I’m going out on a limb here but I imagine the film plays better as a textbook analytical piece after knowing the full background. I would ultimately not recommend this to anyone other than die-hard cinephiles and fans of last year’s “Mandy.”
“The Antenna” recently premiered at Fantastic Fest
