Yellow Letters: Incredible Performances Save This Flawed Drama

The following is a review from the 76th Berlin International Film Festival.

In 2023, Turkish-German writer-director Ílker Çatak made a splash with ‘The Teacher’s Lounge,’ led by a marvelous performance from Leonie Benesch. The film received outstanding reviews and got an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film. Now, just three years later, Çatak is back with his long-awaited Yellow Letters, a part of Berlinale competition slate. Premiering his acclaimed former effort at the festival in the panorama section, one which focuses on screening new, daring, and unconventional cinema, here, the director takes the big leap to the main competition of one of the world’s most prominent film festivals.

Yellow Letters follows Derya (Namal), an acclaimed actor in the Ankara state’s theater, and her husband, Aziz (Biçer), a playwright who teaches at the local university. In the midst of the political turmoil plaguing the country, Derya refuses to take a picture with an important authority of the current government. The following day, as a massive protest in favor of LGBTQIA+ rights takes place on the university campus, Aziz tells his students to skip class and participate in the protest. Meanwhile, Aziz and his colleagues all receive yellow letters from the government, announcing the termination of their contracts. Suddenly, Aziz and Derya find their lives turned upside down, simply because they dared to involve themselves in the troubled politics of their country.

Ironically, in an edition of the Berlinale where is main competition jury president refused to take a political stance, Çatak presents this melodrama about authoritarian governments and the threat they can pose for artists who dare to take a stand politically. The script by Çatak, Enis Köstepen, and Ayda Meryem Çatak divides the couple’s life into two different cities: Ankara and Istanbul. A creative moment is the presentation of the German cities, where Derya and Aziz shot the film as actors, ‘Hamburg as Istanbul’ and ‘Berlin as Ankara’. The significance of this creative decision is also a commentary by the director, as he makes a statement about the inability to shoot the film where it is set due to political divergencies. Still, the choice is merely a minor detail due to the director’s decision to set most of the film in closed off locations, such as Aziz’s mother’s home in Istanbul or the theater. Over the course of these scenes, there is a constant sentiment of restraint, evoking the feeling that the characters are punished by their government.

However, contrary to ‘The Teacher’s Lounge,’ a film which impressed audiences through its control of tension, Yellow Letters feels too bloated and unfocused to be as efficient. Over its 2+ hour runtime, it features segments drag the narrative, and are not crucial visually to the film as a whole. Similarly, the final act is overly rushed heading to its conclusion, one which unveils plenty of subplots; still, the crucial twist in the ending is ridiculously pushed to create a dramatic impression. Fortunately, the performances of Namal and Biçer, as Derya and Aziz, are strong enough to convey the drama of the film, something that could never quite reach the potential that the political drama that sets the stage for everything else.

As it stands, Ílker Çatak’s Yellow Letters may not be as dramatic or powerful as ‘The Teacher’s Lounge’, lacking the same intensity and suspense as his previous effort, but this uneven melodrama is saved by a pair of incredible performances from Özgü Namal and Tansu Biçer.

still courtesy of Berlinale

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Pedro Lima

Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.