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5.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Cici Berber remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, if you have a soft spot for vintage romantic comedies where the logic is thin but the smiles are wide, you will probably dig Cici Berber. If you need your movies to make sense or have high-stakes tension, you are going to hate this. It is a movie that moves at its own weird, polite pace. 💈
Selim is a journalist who really, really likes this Greek girl. So naturally, he pretends to be a barber. Because that’s a totally normal thing to do, right? The whole thing feels like a stage play that someone just happened to shove a camera in front of.
It’s funny comparing this to something like Jealous Husbands. Both films deal with the messy business of keeping secrets, but this one feels like a much lighter, fluffier pastry. It doesn't have the same bite.
There is this one scene where Selim is trying to act all professional with the razor, and you can see him sweating bullets. The camera just lingers on his face for way too long. It’s not meant to be funny, but I definitely chuckled. It feels like the director just let the tape roll while the poor actor panicked.
I found myself wondering if Nazim Hikmet actually enjoyed writing this stuff. It feels so far removed from anything heavy or intellectual. Sometimes you just want to write about a fake barber, and that is fine by me.
The pacing is a bit of a disaster, to be honest. It jumps from scene to scene with no real warning, like someone edited it with a pair of rusty kitchen shears. But in a way, that adds to the charm? It feels like an old letter you found in an attic that’s missing a few pages.
Don't look for deep meaning here. You won't find it. Just watch the suits, the awkward haircuts, and the inevitable moment where the truth almost comes out but doesn't. It’s a bit of a relic, but it’s a shiny one. ✨
