This Turkish, subtitled film is not for everyone and frankly if you want action forget it. It is a slow creep to the finish line, but not an unpleasant one. That is, if you can manage to stick it out to the end. At the Sydney Film Festival screening I attended at least a ten people walked out and that's an apparently 'world film' savy audience.
Honey is the story of a young boy who is so shy that he can speak only to his father (whom he obviously adores) and only in a whisper. His father, encourages him gently and the little boy does slowly begin to blossom in small ways.
The father makes a living as a bee keeper in an isolated part of Turkey. The film opens with the father attempting to climb an extremely tall tree to retrieve honey from a hive he placed there earlier. In the attempt he falls and is killed. The film then flashes back to tell us more about this man and his son. I understand the reasons for showing the death a the beginning, though I would question the wisdom of it, as I spent the whole film waiting for this to come and when it does come, it feels rather anticlimactic. But maybe that was the point? It is also tragic for the boy because not only does he lose a father, but also the only person in the world he would talk too.
On the plus side, the film is beautifully made and the boy little is so engaging and heartfelt that he carries the film. There's very little dialogue and but lots of soul. If you can stick with it, it's worthwhile.
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