Terrific Turkish writer-director Nuri Bilge Ceylan extends his minimalist, elliptical storytelling to a bleak, noirish plot about adultery in “Three Monkeys” while pushing his high-definition palette and acute sense of composition to gorgeous extreme. While expectations of traditional narrative may be denied, Ceylan’s willingness to let image and sound carry a brooding mood and certain menace makes for a compulsively watchable feat of cinema. His wry, deadpan sense of humor makes fewer appearances than his most recent films. “Distant” (2002) and “Climates” (2006) capture masculine unease and erotic alienation with felicity and ferocious concentration; the introduction of pulpier plot elements brings out unsuspected strengths in Ceylan’s fifth feature. Gökhan Tiryaki’s stunning cinematography rivals the beauty of fine arts photography from shot to shot yet the taut narrative holds its savor. With Yavuz Bingol, Hartrice Aslan, Rifat Sungar, Ercan Kesal. 109m. (Ray Pride)
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