In this moving Turkish movie on healing and starting over again, writer-director Levan Akin takes his two generation-challenged protagonists on a journey of self-discovery.
Okay, that sounds fairly cliched as far as road movies are concerned. But wait! Crossing is not what we think. It is a work of fragile beauty. It draws its strength from the flaws and fragilities of its characters, neither judging nor condemning them for their fatal weaknesses.
Lia (Mzia Arabuli ) is a veteran who has braved many war wounds…not at the border, but within her home front where the scars tell stories of immense family betrayals. Lia is now off to look for her transgender niece, whom Lia’s sister and Lia failed to support.
So, is this an atonement or an adventure? Perhaps a bit of both. Writer-director Levan Akin lets Liya and her unlikely travelling partner, a young restless teen named Achi (Lucas Kankava), float in a karmic stratosphere.
The 60-plus Lia and the 17-plus Achi are neither compatible nor likely to find common ground as they travel together. Hence, when Achi gives the old lady a tight hug at the end, it seems like an odd, awkward concession to sentimentality in a film that stays largely dry-eyed and stoic in its pursuit of answers to the unsolvable mystery of life.
Istanbul is imagined as a hotbed of amorous activities. There are sex workers everywhere, and the heartbreaking news for Lia is that her missing niece is one of them. This doesn’t give the screenplay the leeway to wallow in morbid emotions.
Lia and Achi’s journey is stubbornly upbeat. Lia refuses to surrender to hopelessness even when there seems to be no hope. The fast-food kinetic energy of the streets in Istanbul( and cinematographer Lisabi Fridell is hands-on on recording every beat of the heart) is infectious.
In spite of the obvious lack of empathy between Lia and Achi—or perhaps because they are not fastened together genetically or age-wise—Crossing has a unique tone and mood of adventure to it. The seedy hotel where the two bone-weary travellers try to find a resting place, the food court where Lia flirts with an aging benefactor, the transgender social worker Evrim (Deniz Dumanlı) who has her own story to tell (maybe a separate film on her?) …they all seem to be travellers in a journey that has proper closure.
Does Lia find her missing niece? So much happens to Lia, not only in terms of events during her journey from a village to Istanbul but also the transformative emotions that confront her. The missing link seems to be a signal from above for remedial action.
At times, Crossing will remind you of the Thai heart warmer How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, especially in the Lia-Achi equation. But that is a mere illusion. Crossing is a beast of its own, bellowing in muted, soundless rage and grief.
