--- title: "Distant" year: 2002 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/distant" fi1m_id: "distant" imdb_id: "tt0346094" tmdb_id: 31026 wikidata_id: "Q1361018" fi1m_score: 73 critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 5 published: "2026-09-26T18:02:10.564033+00:00" updated: "2026-09-26T18:02:10.898437+00:00" region: "NL" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Distant (2002) Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan · 1h 46m · Drama ## Identity Distant - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/distant - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** distant - **IMDb ID:** tt0346094 - **TMDB ID:** 31026 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1361018 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346094/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/31026, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1361018 **Fi1m score: 73** · Critics 68 (early) from 5 reviews *In a sentence:* We came to watch two lonely men and found ourselves worrying about a rusting ship > Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s *Distant* makes two lonely men absorbing company through subtle acting, dry humour and carefully composed images. Its patience occasionally becomes a drag, and some symbolism is blunt, but the feeling holds. ## Synopsis Mahmut (Muzaffer Özdemir) and Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak) are two lonely men whose relationship unfolds through small details and moments of comedy. Nazan (Zuhal Gencer) is also part of the story, alongside a lover (Nazan Kesal) and a janitor (Feridun Koç). The drama moves slowly, leaving time to observe the men and the spaces around them. A rusted, half-sunken ship appears among the expansive views. Attention settles on the characters’ behaviour and on the difficulty of making contact with another person. ## Review *Distant* is a quietly moving drama with a stubbornly slow pace, and we recommend it with that qualification. Nuri Bilge Ceylan wants us to pay attention to two lonely men without expecting them to become eloquent about their condition. The interest lies in their relationship, the small details around it and the flashes of comedy that stop their unhappiness becoming oppressive. That is enough to sustain the film, though not every pause earns its length. Muzaffer Özdemir’s Mahmut and Mehmet Emin Toprak’s Yusuf are compelling because the performances leave us some work to do. Neither actor presses a feeling upon us, and their restraint makes a small alteration in behaviour worth noticing. This is acting that benefits from being watched patiently: we have time to reconsider an impression rather than accept the first expression as the whole person. The humour helps, allowing the men to be recognisably fallible without inviting us to feel superior to them. Working as his own cinematographer, the director uses expansive framing to make us examine the space around the characters as well as their faces. The compositions are exact, but they rarely feel like an excuse to stop attending to the people inside them. Our eye can wander to a detail and back again, and that freedom matters in a film whose pace could otherwise become coercive. The images ask for concentration without continually advertising what we should think. The rusted, half-sunken ship is harder to defend as a subtle choice. We felt unexpectedly sad looking at it, because something so large and plainly useless makes its decay difficult to dismiss. Yet it also shows the risk in this approach: an image can suggest so much that it begins to do the characters’ thinking for them. The film is more persuasive when an ordinary detail needs us to notice it than when a metaphor all but announces its meaning. The editing, shared by Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Ayhan Ergürsel, makes room for this kind of looking, sometimes more room than the scene needs. At 106 minutes, the film is not an ordeal of duration, but there are pauses in which observation gives way to waiting. We do not need a dramatic confrontation every few minutes; we do need the stillness to keep changing what we understand. Some stretches repeat a feeling that the performances have already made clear. Viewers accustomed to drama that moves from one decisive conversation to the next may find this frustrating. Among films that give priority to observation, it earns its place through the actors’ ability to hold our attention without appearing to ask for it. The humour matters too, keeping the solemnity from becoming a duty and making the men company worth having. Watch it when there is no need to hurry. *Fi1m score 73, published 26 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Distant worth watching?** *Distant* is worth watching if patient, observational drama appeals to you; we score it 73 for its restrained performances, dry humour and quietly moving portrait of two lonely men. The carefully composed images reward attention, but some pauses drag and the symbolism can be blunt, so we recommend it when there is no need to hurry. **How long is Distant, and what is it rated?** *Distant* runs 1h 46m. It is a drama film. **Where can I watch Distant in the Netherlands?** *Distant* is not on any streaming or rental service in the Netherlands at the moment. It is available in 1 other country; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How does Distant compare to Late Spring?** *Distant* and [*Late Spring*](https://film.one/film/late-spring) both make ordinary relationships absorbing through restrained performances, but we recommend *Late Spring* more strongly for its emotional force. Its father-and-daughter story makes family pressures painful to watch, while *Distant* observes two lonely men with dry humour and careful attention to their surroundings; both require patience. **What should I watch after Distant?** After *Distant*, try [*Late Spring*](https://film.one/film/late-spring) (1949, Fi1m 92): Another patient drama in which restrained performances make ordinary relationships painfully absorbing. Then [*Stranger Than Paradise*](https://film.one/film/stranger-than-paradise) (1984, Fi1m 82): Deadpan company for anyone who finds comedy in people barely managing conversation. ### Reviews we read (5) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): Bradshaw calls the film beautiful, humane and among the year’s best. He especially praises Ceylan’s crystalline compositions and the subtle performances that make the lonely men’s relationship so involving. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_Film_of_the_week/0,4267,1226133,00.html) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (70/100, inferred): Lane finds Distant stately and slow, but ultimately compelling and emotionally resonant. He praises its flashes of comedy and the striking image of a rusted, half-sunken ship. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/03/15/mens-secrets) - **Screen Daily**, Dan Fainaru (64/100, inferred): The page identifies this as a review, but the critic’s verdict is not visible. The accessible text does not reveal what the critic praises or criticizes. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/distant-uzak/4013141.article) - **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The page is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be verified. No praise or complaint can be reliably attributed from the available text. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/12/movies/film-in-review-distant.html) - **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez (2.5/5): Gonzalez finds the film’s deliberately restrained approach largely effective, though some of its metaphors are too obvious. He praises how the expansive framing and small details draw viewers into the characters’ lives. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/distant-dvd/) ## Details - **Director:** Nuri Bilge Ceylan - **Director:** Nuri Bilge Ceylan - **Writer:** Nuri Bilge Ceylan - **Cinematography:** Nuri Bilge Ceylan - **Editor:** Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ayhan Ergürsel - **Producer:** Nuri Bilge Ceylan - **Cast:** Muzaffer Özdemir as Mahmut; Mehmet Emin Toprak as Yusuf; Zuhal Gencer as Nazan (as Zuhal Gencer Erkaya); Nazan Kesal as Lover (as Nazan Kırılmış); Feridun Koç as Janitor; Fatma Ceylan as Mother; Ebru Ceylan as Woman (as Ebru Yapıcı); Bahattin Serter - **Runtime:** 1h 46m - **First release (Türkiye):** 20 December 2002 - **Genres:** Drama - **Box office:** $767,337 - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJKIypY3P-g ## Where to watch in the Netherlands Not streaming, renting or buying in the Netherlands at the last check. Also available in: TR. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - International Submission to the Academy Awards 2004: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated) - Cannes Film Festival 2003: Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix (won) - European Film Award for Best Director 2003: European Film Award for Best Director (nominated) - European Film Award - People's Choice Award for Best Director 2003: European Film Award - People's Choice Award for Best Director (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Late Spring* (1949), Fi1m 92: Another patient drama in which restrained performances make ordinary relationships painfully absorbing. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/late-spring.md) - *The Green Ray* (1986): Loneliness, awkward company and humour that never quite lets discomfort off the hook. - *The Lunchbox* (2013): A warmer route through urban loneliness, with small exchanges carrying considerable feeling. - *Stranger Than Paradise* (1984), Fi1m 82: Deadpan company for anyone who finds comedy in people barely managing conversation. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/stranger-than-paradise.md) - *Still Life* (2006): Human lives observed against landscapes that make private disappointments feel harder to escape. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/distant