Nomadland featured a 60 year-old widow (Frances McDormand) whose longtime job was taken from her. So she hits the road. But the main characters in The Festival of Troubadours are a lawyer and his famous traveling musician father who haven’t seen each other for 25 years. Then one night, the father drops in on his son. The old man is not well but insists he can get to his destination alone. And, of course, the son has to drop everything and go on this road trip with his father. The big question involves why his father hasn’t tried to get in touch with him for such a long time.  

Father and son estranged for years

take a trip and hold back the tears.

The son so angry he relies

on stretches of silence, not cries. 

His father has lived for music.

He left his son, but now he’s sick.

He needs some help on his journey

to meet old friends and fans to see.

“The Festival of Troubadours,”

  not everyone’s tea, may be yours.

Humanity with faults and all,

this movie answered my deep call.

Lubezki-like skies and folk songs

make up for any filmic wrongs.   

    Plus, two main actors seem so real.

Their performances clinch the deal.

In the role of Yussuf, the son, Kivanc Tatlitug just couldn’t be better. This is the first time I’ve seen him and I want more! It doesn’t hurt that he is easy on the eye. He started out as a model but switched to acting and has won many awards in his current profession. As Heves Ali, the father, Settar Tanriogen doesn’t say much, but he convinces us how much his character loves being a troubadour and how sorry he is about past actions.            

Thanks to director Ozcan Alper (who also wrote the screenplay from Kemal Varol’s novel) for the right pacing of this poignant Turkish drama. A faster pace would not allow us to know these two men. Kudos also to cinematographer Firar Guney Kayran for some beautiful scenes that reminded me of the great Emmanuel Lubezki’s work.

Last, but not least, I love the musical poetry put together by Cem Erdost, Cevdet Erek, and Mine Pakel.

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything. --- Plato

 (Released by Neflix)