Construction of a Female Director’s Cinematic Language: The Case of Motherland (2015)

Authors : Beril Uğuz

Pages : 22-40

Doi:10.17829/turcom.1609592

View : 224 | Download : 367

Publication Date : 2025-12-26

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Feminist film theory critiques classical cinema for positioning women as objects of the male gaze and questions whether the cinematic language of female directors should diverge from the conventions of classical cinema. Studies that address female directors’ cinematic language and the construction of the female gaze remain relatively limited in the literature. This study aims to reveal how the female perspective and discourse are constructed in visual, auditory, narrative, and thematic elements in the cinematic language of female directors. In this context, after discussing movements diverging from classical cinema and feminist film literature, Senem Tüzen’s Motherland (2015) is selected through a purposeful criterion sampling method as a case from Turkish women’s cinema. The film was analyzed through filmic narrative analysis, encompassing cinematography, mise-en-scène, narrative structure, and thematic elements to identify departures from traditional cinema. Findings indicate that long takes, reaction shots, medium and wide shots, close-ups, selective focus, and montage sequences were used to portray the female character’s experiences from her perspective. Mise-en-scène elements, including lighting, sound, set design, space, costume, and acting, contributed to conveying her emotions. The narrative structure includes an open ending, a protagonist with an unclear goal, alienation effects, and themes such as mother-daughter relationships and female solidarity, all of which deviate from classical cinema.
Keywords : Feminist Film Kuramı, Kadının Sinemasal Dili, Türk Sineması, Senem Tüzen, Ana Yurdu

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