Paper Lives (2021) – Movie Review and Analysis
Summary of the post
The following summary includes the list of the topics we will cover in our post related to “Nobody.”
- Introduction
- Youtube Video Introduction
- The Story
- Trailer
- Review, Analysis and Final Rating – (Spoilers Begin)
- Where can you watch Paper Lives?
Paper Lives – Introduction
In the papers we write stories, memories, pieces of life which we bring always with us. And for this reason papers are life. Especially when some memories keep you connected with a past which can’t be easily changed.
Paper Lives will leave you breathless till the last frame.
Paper Lives is a Turkish film released in 2021. It’s an authentic masterpiece, which runs through poetic metaphors and astonishing cinematography.
Is the reality what it seems, or is there something more we need to discover? One thing is sure: nothing is what it looks like!
Paper Lives – Details
| Release Date | March 2021 in the U.S.A. |
| Country | Turkey |
| Genre | Drama, psycological drama |
| Duration | 1 hour and 36 minutes |
| Director | Can Ulkay |
| Actors | Çagatay Ulusoy (Mehmet) – Emir Ali Dogrul (Ali) – Ersin Arici (Gonzo) |
Youtube – Movie Introduction
Paper Lives (2021) – The Story
The film is set in Turkey, in the beautiful city of Istanbul. We can immediately spot the two different faces of the city: the rich one and the poor one. Almost two different worlds, in the same town. Mehmet is running a recycling business, for the most, collecting papers from the street and selling them to be converted on something new and valuables. All the people working with him have a difficult past behind them and he helps them providing a job and an opportunity to their lives.
Everything change when Mehmet mets the little Ali, a boy who will change Mehmet’s mind and life forever. He, alone, will take care of Ali trying to provide him everything he couldn’t have during his childhood.
But now some questions become important:
- What this will mean for Mehmet?
- How his life is going to change?
- Can Mehmet takes care of Ali and change both of their lives and past?
The story is full of emotions, in a crescendo of episodes that are going to have an impact on our lives too. There is too much and good things to say about this movie and, in the next section, we are going to tell you something more.
Paper Lives – Trailer
Paper Lives – Review, Analysis and Insights
The film is a piece of poetry in the cinema’s world. It’s a big metaphor with several little versus of a poem. Just some examples:
1. The two faces of Istanbul
The director introduces us in the city showing us immediately how the rich part of the town is so close to the poor one. And, especially, how the poor one is so invisible to the rich one. How less lucky people have been forgotten by the humanity of the other one. How difficult is to survive when your past can’t easily be fixed. And let me add that Istanbul is just the location of the movie, but those stories are written everyday in any corner of this planet.
2. The recycling business of lives
- This is most inspiring part of the movie. As we mentioned Mehmet runs a recycling business. Recycling is when we take waste and we convert it in something new which we can be used again. Therefore, we create value from our wastes.
- This principle should apply not only to waste but also to people. And to do it, our characters need to run, fight, cry, laugh, be strong together, united by a dreams that something will change one day, and with this also their past.
- The film wants to be an inspiration for each of us, to do our part in this recycling circle which is our world, because we are all brothers in a certain way, and sadly we often forget it. It inspires us on making our job to be a human which is helping each other’s, especially the one forgotten by the world.
3. The difficult world of mental health
Despite all the efforts that Mehmet will bring to accomplish his dream, he will need to fight his health. He is physically sick and mentally hurt by the memories of his past. The past is the foundation of our present. When this one presents some damages caused by trauma, the reality can become very hard.
Especially when understanding what is real or not becomes the most difficult challenge to overcome.
The border between hopes and illusions is something complicated to deal with for everyone.
Will Mehmet succeed with his plan?
4. The amazing ending
The film will keep you engaged till the last frame. It will surprise you and fill you with emotions that remind us that we are still alive. That we can, and we should do more for those who are less lucky than us.
It will teach us about life and what we should do with it:
- Be part of this fantastic recycling business.
- Helping people with a problematic past, building their best present.
- And that we are humans, very fragile and getting stronger day by day is the real mission.
The director of the movie is Can Ulkay. Mehmet is Çagatay Ulusoy and he deserves a lot of credits for his excellent performance on this movie.
Our final rating for Paper Lives is
8.5/10
Where you can watch Paper Lives
The movie is currently available on Netflix. But Check this link to see where you can watch the movie in your country.
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