Honey

2011

Honey

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

85%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 26

77%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 745

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Movie Info

Yusuf is an only child who lives with his parents in an isolated mountain area. For the young boy, the surrounding forest becomes a place of mystery and adventure when accompanying his father on the job. Yusuf watches in admiration as his father works sometimes higher than the eye can clearly see. His father Yakup is a beekeeper who hangs his specially made hives at the top of the tallest trees. With the skill of a tightrope acrobat, he must often suspend dangerously from the uppermost branches to gather honey. Yusuf and Yakup have a very strong bond. Yusuf is excited to share a dream with his father. Instructed by Yakup, the young boy whispers it and no one else can ever know the secret that father and son now share. Yusuf's stutter shames him in front of his classmates during an oral reading assignment. Being an outsider makes this year of elementary school even more difficult. Yusuf desperately longs for the teacher's congratulatory badge awarded for successfully reading out loud. He frets that he'll be the only pupil left empty-handed. Yusuf's anxieties escalate when his father must travel to a faraway forest on a risky mission. With his family's livelihood endangered by the progressive disappearance of bees, Yakup has no choice but to hang his hives in a remote and treacherous mountainous area. His father gone, Yusuf slips into silence to the distress of his pretty young mother Zehra. She decides to send Yusuf to his grandmother's to spend the Holy Night of Miraj. Hearing the story of the Ascension of the Prophet inspires Yusuf to believe that his father will be returning soon. But not even a day at the colorful fog festival on Sis Mountain can fully cheer up the worried young Yusuf. Days pass and Yakup still does not return. Yusuf sees his mother becoming sadder everyday. Yusuf summons all of his courage and runs deep into the forest to search for his father. A journey into the unknown... -- (C) Olive Films

Cast

Bora Altas
as Yusuf
Alev Uçarer
Ayse Altay
Erdal Besikcioglu
as Yakup (Father)
Tülin Özen
as Zehra (Mother)

Critic Reviews for Honey

All Critics (26) | Top Critics (8)

View All Critic Reviews (26)

Audience Reviews for Honey

  • Dec 17, 2011
    Features that consolidated a new movie trilogy: - A backwards, alternate chronology - Development of sound effects - An upwards improvement of cinematography - More humble origins (with each new film) - The same pattern to open a film (with its respective, long shots) - The same style to end a film (degradation and catharsis) - Poetry Result: A new auteur is born. 97/100
    Edgar C Super Reviewer
  • Jul 05, 2011
    So slow movie but so beautiful.... I cannot believe that a film so slow so silent ? will like it so much. Through some spectaculars shots the director give us the splendor of simplicity of life. It is an exquisite film in all senses: the story, acting, visuals, and sound. The last film of Semih Kaplanoglu's Yusuf Trilogy It's not a film meant for festival audience. It's not a film promoting some highly intellectual ideas few can make sense of. It features a breathtaking beauty, beauty of life itself. Without any superficiality such as music, effects and faster than life rhythm it creates suspense so much so that we stay on tip toes till the end wondering: what shall become of Yusuf? And we find it out at the end...ok I don't want to spoil it. But let me tell you one thing when the movie was over nobody could move from their seats. This is the miracle of Dir.Semih Kaplanoglu.
    Arianeta L Super Reviewer
  • Mar 21, 2011
    Primordial tale of a young boy and his father who journey into the mountains when their village's honey suddenly dwindles. There is an ancient, knowing quality to its depiction of a young boy's shaping into a man, but it is often too academic for its own good - overly calculated and emotionally distancing. Still, it's beautifully filmed & engaging.
    Matthew L Super Reviewer
  • Feb 28, 2011
    It's son-father-religion triangle that is narrated in best possible way.The beautiful ending turned this small movie to a masterpiece . Didn't expect such a great movie from turkey's cinema. Honey alongside Distant is one of the movies that define turkish cinema in current century.
    Reza M Super Reviewer
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