In his second feature-length film, the courtroom drama Hesitation Wound, Turkish director Selman Nacar (who also has a lawyer’s education), creates a fascinating portrait of a woman — young defense attorney Canan. The professionally competent attorney is an energetic control freak, whose almost neurotic attempts to control situations never seem to succeed, despite her best attempts.
The film aptly depicts the atmosphere of corruption in a rural small town, where Canan, portrayed wonderfully by Tülin Özen, defends a man accused of the murder of a factory leader. At the same time, in her private life, Canan and her vastly different sister must constantly visit their dying mother in the hospital.
The slightly thriller-esque Hesitation Wound doesn’t, as such, make a statement as to whether Canan is right or wrong in the eyes of the law. Or is this “outsider” with her foreign education and her appearance that alone makes her stick out, just an opportunistic climber? The metaphor of the leaky courtroom ceiling works well; Canan’s nose tends to leak too… Romanian Tudor Vladimir Panduru’s stylishly subdued scope camerawork acts as a counterweight to the fervent pulse of the events.
Timo Malmi