BREATH OF THE BELOVED

A man on a balcony is tuning a dap, a very large tambourine, in front of a man playing qanûn, a plucked-string zither. The latter is older and narrates the “meşk” initiation of Salâhi Dede. The light is soft. Is it morning, evening or mid-season? We are missing a lot of information, the duet is unknown for the time being. As a tranquil evidence, before humming a tune, two musicians talk about musical art transmission.
Mâşuk’un Nefesi means the innocent’s breath, this introduction to meşk (pronounced meshk) gives the extent of said breath. It is not only the breathing of a wannabe singer interested in musical approaches. This naive look of the main character. The meşk is the humble journey of an initiation including many confrontations where music, philosophy, poetry and faith are combined without omission. A very old tradition where the spoken and written languages commingle, where repetition and spontaneity are complementary.
Murat Pay was born in Izmir, in the Aegean region where the keyboard santur of the Greek, Jewish or Gypsy communities will become the subtle Turkish qanûn with five to twelve levers making progressions by comma possible (fifth or twelfth-tone). Pay means sharing. The opening balcony scene just like the outcome at the beginning of a staircase puts dialogues, exchange and otherness at the core of this first feature film. (JPR)