AVClub: Given that Mustang is a story about five sisters, clustered together in age and collectively going through puberty and/or adolescence, all of whom are imprisoned (literally, in this case) by authoritarian relatives, one could be forgiven for assuming that the film must be a Turkish remake of Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides (itself adapted from the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides). As it turns out, there’s no connection, apart from that basic narrative similarity. Rather than a gauzy reflection of the past, filtered through the wistful memories of young men, Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s feature debut (co-written with Alice Winocour, director of Augustine and the forthcoming Disorder) focuses entirely on the girls, in the present tense. The result, while less poetic and artful than Eugenides’ book or Coppola’s film, is much more emotionally direct, and pulls off a very tricky balancing act between bemoaning its characters’ fate and celebrating their resilience.
"The journey shared between man and horse is beautiful to witness and profoundly engaging to the psyche. This is true unbridled nature in all its glory."
Deadline
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has won a contract on the Legende Films drama Mustang after crew members in Carson City, NV, walked off the job and took to the picket line.
