Inside

A striking adaptation of Dostoevsky’s “Notes From Underground,” Zeki Demirkubuz’s existential drama “Inside” convincingly transposes the novella’s action to contemporary Ankara and allows the Turkish multihyphenate to once again explore the bestial side of human nature… One of literature’s most notable antiheros comes to life as slothful civil servant Mr. Muharrem (Gunaydin), a social outsider locked in his own obsessive world. Intelligent but oversensitive, he is disillusioned by the corruption of the society in which he lives. The intense, elliptical story of his self-destructive tendencies and insatiable desire for the shameful unfolds through his highly self-conscious point of view and occasional voiceover narration… Recognized for his literary approach to filmmaking, Demirkubuz early on took Dostoevsky’s leitmotifs as the inspiration for his entire oeuvre, having devoured the novelist’s writings as a young political prisoner. His take on “Notes” is highly cinematic, and finds an equivalent for the words and punctuation of the source material via visual composition, editing, sound and performance. Appearing flabby and unwashed, star Gunaydin (a well-known comedian playing against type) makes human frailty palpable as a man tormented by his heightened consciousness; he uses body language brilliantly as shots of him in his grimy briefs speak volumes about his life… Alissa Simon