In his 1905 play Man and Superman George Bernard Shaw wrote “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” Shaw knew how to throw shade, and his sentiment towards the teaching profession has certainly lingered.

This Turkish film co-written and directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, manages to throw a fair amount of shade on the profession itself, as it follows two teachers accused of some unacceptable behaviour.

Having once worked in the hustle and bustle of Istanbul, Samet (Deniz Celiloglu) finds himself teaching in a tiny village in a remote part of Eastern Anatolia, and after four years, it’s safe to say he’s had enough.

He lives with fellow teacher Kenan (Musab Ekici), who is fairly happy in his position, having been their seven years to date.

Samet is single and reluctant to mingle but he gets set up with a date with Nuray (Merve Dizdar), a fellow teacher in another town. They have a pleasant enough time, but he feels that Kenan would probably get on with her better.

Meanwhile, a scandal breaks out at school, when two pupils accuse two teachers of inappropriate behaviour – with those accused being Samet and Kenan.

As if the harsh winter wasn’t enough to face, the pair are in for challenging times professionally and in their private lives.

Turkish director Ceylan clearly isn’t in any kind of hurry with his latest feature, as it has the pacing of a one-legged camel. And to make sure you know it, it has a running time of 3 hours and 17 minutes just to drive the point home. And yet, you very rarely feel it.

The film itself has more in common with George Bernard Shaw than just the teaching connection; many of the scenes shot here are like mini plays in themselves, where the director is happy to let conversations, themes and relationships develop before our very eyes. In that sense there’s a hint of voyeurism occurring, as we sit in on these various scenes and curiously witness how they play out.

And then you have the main protagonist Samet, whose moral compass darts all over the place throughout. Initially he comes across as the perfect teacher, but as the story unfolds, so very slowly, he becomes more and more untrustworthy, displaying a number of red flags as he does.

There’s also a chill in the air throughout – literally – as the majority of the film takes place during a bleak, snowy winter, with a coolness that translates to a number of characters.

Ceylan is also happy for it to be a dialogue heavy piece, which certainly helps with holding your attention across its impressive run time. He also throws in a mind-bending scene, that simply has one of his characters go to the bathroom, in a highly unexpected fashion.

Yes it does demand a lot of your time and attention, but the film delivers some fascinating insights into complicated friendships, the kind that real people have, that can’t just be presented in a bouncy 1 hour 30 minutes.