A modern narrative in Turkish cinema: Selman Nacar cinema

This study analyzes the relationship between Selman Nacar's cinema and the elements of modern cinema through the lens of Peter Wollen's dichotomy of the "seven virtues" and "seven sins." It examines how the traditional features of classical narrative cinema—such as transparency, identification, and closure—are transformed in Nacar's films and replaced by contemporary cinematic virtues such as foregrounding, alienation, and openness. The thesis reveals the extent to which the director embraces Wollen's virtue of "foregrounding instead of transparency," particularly through his preference for long takes and his emphasis on diegetic realism. Furthermore, the open-ended ethical dilemmas faced by the characters reflect the virtue of "openness instead of closure," inviting the viewer to become an active interpreter rather than a passive consumer. The audiovisual analysis conducted through the balance of silence and dialogue demonstrates that the core of Nacar's cinematic language lies in the virtues of "discomfort instead of pleasure" and "alienation instead of identification." In contrast to the mainstream narrative's pursuit of speed and clarity, Nacar's slow pacing aligns with Wollen's principle of "depth instead of speed." In conclusion, Selman Nacar's filmography adopts the critical language of modern cinema, allowing the viewer to experience the tension between the seven virtues and seven sins, thereby creating a new experiential dimension in cinematic storytelling. This study aims to interpret both Nacar's unique narrative strategies and the universal debates of contemporary film aesthetics from an academic perspective. Keywords: Cinema, Modern Cinema, Narrative Types, Selman Nacar