Climates is a thoughtful film about what could be called the various seasons of relationships, when they run hot and when they turn cold. There is constant movement and change, much like the earth, where subtle shifts are more complex than simply spring, summer, fall and winter. The primary characters are Bahar (Ebru Ceylan) and Isa (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ebru’s husband). Nuri is also the film’s writer and director.

As the film opens, Bahar and Isa are on vacation, touring ancient ruins along the Aegean coast. He wanders, taking photographs, she moves idly from one rock to the next. He asks her if she is bored and her answer is no. Their relationship is in ruins, and as we spend time with Bahar her feelings come to the surface. First she smiles feebly and then tears roll down her face, seemingly from out of nowhere.

Later that evening they have dinner with friends who live near the warm seaside. Bahar and Isa’s bickering conveys to their friends that the couple’s superficial disagreements have deep roots.

Isa suggests they break up and Bahar agrees. However, he wants to keep in touch but she is ready to let it go. Isa is a middle-aged professor at a local college and Bahar is a young television producer. Isa was probably attracted to her in part because she’s quite a bit younger than he is. Back in Istanbul, Isa continues to look back on the past rather than moving on.

A fellow professor and handball competitor brags to Isa about how he stood up his fiancé and got her in line. However, he’s quick to tell Isa that he must get home on time or she will be angry. Clearly the man is incorrect on who has more influence in his family.

Isa runs into an old mate and his girlfriend, named Serap (Nazan Kirilmis), at a bookstore. While he does the "let’s have lunch sometime" routine with his friend, without much enthusiasm, Isa’s testosterone leaps as he greets the woman. We learn later that Serap and Isa have a torrid history. He was involved with her while still with Bahar. Isa waits for Serap in the shadows when she returns home that evening and they rekindle their relationship with a round of very rough sex.

Isa’s fixation with Bahar continues, despite his dalliance with the other woman. He tracks down Bahar at an icy, snow laden, remote village, where she is on assignment. He convinces her to have coffee with him, and again, she turns weepy. Isa professes his love for her and when Bahar asks him if he’s been with Serap again, he lies and says no. He even tells Bahar to quit her job and return to Istanbul with him. She gives in and they spend the night together. But Bahar manages the relationship in such a way that it reinforces the direction she should take. It appears that she has moved on to a new season of awareness, a climate more conducive to her growth. Isa is about himself and his needs, and that is unlikely to change.

What we liked best about the movie was also what we liked the least. The long periods of silence and minimal dialogue worked better at some times than at others. The actors didn’t possess the strength of presence to carry off the depth of character needed in those spaces. At times the deliberate pace became tedious.

While the film captures part of the Italian master Michelangelo Antonioni’s poetic use of landscape combined with loneliness and unhappiness, we liked the film but wanted to love it. It does reinforce that "breaking up is hard to do."