Long on melancholy and short on dramatic texture, "Uzak" (Distant), from Turkish helmer Nuri Bilge Ceylan, makes for a wearisome sit. The problem lies not with the interpretation of his images of loss and unfulfilled lives. The problem, nay the struggle, comes when a viewer wants to bridge the distance -- the film is all too aptly titled -- between himself and characters so willing to let defeatism engulf their dreary existence.

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