Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival 2008

The Old Ways are not always the best. --

Bliss begins with a landscape that is surreal and breathtaking. A virtual flower of a young woman lies despoiled

and bruised and bloody next to a herdsman's watering pond. The water reflects the jagged harsh mountains around.A concentric swirl of sheep move slowly, following the leader, as sheep have forever.

This movie will break your heart. Then it will mend your heart.

She is carried to a sun bleached stone village. Who did it is not hard to figure.Who is blamed? She is. The mill owner who runs the village has decreed her death, and all obey. We then journey , with her and her childhood friend, who is to kill her, from mountains to city to the sea; on a yacht on the gorgeous Aegean, with its heavenly coastline. Yachts in movies condense space and drama. The actress who plays the girl reveals a person who is uneducated but very intelligent and intuitive. She is lovely, innocent, and enchanting. A wonderful performance. The young man, just returned from fighting in the mountains, is all soldiers from all wars, not trained to deduce, trained to obey and harm. Their love for each other takes hold of us, forcing us to care for them. They encounter a mid fifties college professor who takes them on his yacht. There the old and new wash together. Differences and understandings are forced to be examined. The interplay is universal and poignant; making us think about ourselves in what is every day a new world.

The village elder has not forgotten, his henchmen get closer and closer, the satisfyingly exciting confrontation filmed perfectly. With the proper conclusion. And a score written by an acknowledged master. There is much to see of Turkey and its people in Bliss: the mountains, miraculous city of Istanbul, and the islands and coastline of the Aegean. Makes one want to go there. W Rudman

Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.