Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

LLee9999 The very intelligent director lets the story tell the story itself with much sophistication! The story is so profoundly blended into and diffused through actors in a highly natural way & path that are so close to the real life! With only few lines as most mountain farmers do not speak much, the facial expressions, postures, reactions to each other, body languages of actors tell the story and even animals help reinforce the story. I watched it twice and felt the power of the story even much stronger, a great silent power of the story that is told in a nearly silent way. While watching it, my physical & spiritual senses were all open to receive the story. it is composed through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, throat of the director's, and then conceived by the same senses, plus mind & heart of the audience's. The film has the best ending I have ever seen! Yusuf doesn't know how to react to the tragedy and he & the story exactly show that way, again in a highly natural way & path to present it! It is definitely one of the best films ever made in the world! ^0^

o_pekdemir Although I'd really love to do some promotion for this movie, it's a bit hard to do so. At least I can't recommend it to "normal movie viewers". This is definitively not your regular, entertaining popcorn flick that you can go and watch with your buddies on a Saturday evening before you start your tour through the bars. It's even not the right movie to drag your new girlfriend to in my opinion. There IS a chance, that she will like this kind of arty stuff, but there's a bigger chance that she won't. OK, let's unfold this a little bit. What I liked about this movie is, that it's painting quite an interesting portrait of the pristine "Karadeniz" people in (north) Turkey. But then again: This could have been done in a much more original way. The few introduced characters are too simple for my taste and they don't feel real. I'm a Turk myself and I have travelled many places in Turkey ... and for me it just doesn't add up to a realistic picture. Some of the shown landscapes and locations are really gorgeous and fantastic - that's for sure. But most of the time I couldn't shake off this feeling that I'm watching a terribly slow slideshow of somebodies last summer vacation. The story is thin and fuzzy ... I really wanted to like this film. And I also don't think that I'm an idiot who "just didn't see the point". If you have read other (positive) reviews about "Bal" before, let me tell you: Yes, it is a moving story of a child and his father. But it's also a VERY VERY slowly moving story. In fact sometimes it's hard to tell if anything on the screen is moving at all. For minutes. And minutes. That's not my understanding of entertainment or how movies should be done. This could have been a great short movie. 15 or 20 minutes. Maybe 30. Enough time to tell everything that was important in this movie in my eyes. I went to a theatre here in Germany to see "Bal" - together with my parents (my father is 73, my mother is 62 - And I'm 35). We were all more than willing to give this film a chance. My father was even a little bit angry when some woman left the movie after half an hour or so. But when the credits finally rolled in we made our jokes about how clever that woman was - leaving in time. OK, so why did I give it 5 stars? Here's my explanation: 1 Star goes for the nice locations and some of the impressive pictures. The second star would be for making a movie about a slowly vanishing lifestyle and habitat. And the last two stars are for the two tears I secretly shed during the film (one during the scene where Yusuf finally get's his award for reading and the other one when he's drinking his milk to cheer up his mother). The fifth star is there because I'm a Turk and I don't want to feel like traitor. ;-) No, honestly. Many people really seemed to enjoy and love this movie. I'm just stating that it's not quite my cup of tea. BUT... If you also tend to be bored easily, prefer entertaining movies over arty dramas and if you think that a movie is called like that because it has constant movement in it ... then this movie is probably not for you. On the other hand: It has won an important award in Germany and it's definitively something different. If you're unsure, you should wait until it's out on DVD or Bluray so you can skip the long scenes if needed.

kosmasp It is noble of the director filming his story and finding peace within himself by telling his story. Unfortunately I can't say the same about my viewing experience. I know the movie has made many fans (it even won a Golden Bear in Berlin in 2010), but even when I got on with the repetitiveness of some of the themes, I couldn't really take it as seriously as it was meant.It never felt lyrical either (it's shot too down to earth for that), it never really gets fantastical either. It tells its story as cold as winter time can be. Which is strange considering there is a boy in the main role and you should feel for him. The fact, the boy does not really act did not help either.But than again that's me talking. Read another review and you will read the complete opposite. I like slow moving movies too, but they should at least have some substance to them. Loss of innocence in your youth has been filmed in way better style, so that is almost feels like loss of my time ...

filozof Bal (Honey) is the last film of Semih Kaplanoglu's Yusuf Trilogy. When I first read the script I was convinced that this one shall be the most powerful of the trilogy, and the result seems to confirm me. It is an exquisite film in all senses: the story, acting, visuals, and sound. The kid is superb. Well, it deserves a Golden Bear in Berlinale. I organized a special screening of the film for some European film professionals in Istanbul. Everybody was quite impressed by the masterful naivite and simplicity. The film skilfully manages to portray the kid's world and perspective. There are strong symbolic references waiting the viewers to decipher. The best thing to do is to watch the film. I'm sure you'll not regret it. Just some questions: lets all of us just think why the bees are dying. What kind of a relation do we have with the nature that we cause the bees to die? What is missing? Honey: a sweet thing which is a natural product of the bees. If the bees all die, where shall we find the honey? BAL poses a calm question to our modern civilization, to our modern selves.