Falling in love on silver screen

Turkish cinema is infamous for taking itself much too seriously and romantic comedies often do not fare well with Turkish directors and producers, although this does not mean there are no happy endings.

For Valentine’s Day, we have selected three recent Turkish movies with love stories at their core. The three are prototypes of major themes in contemporary Turkish cinema. You will find reflections on upper-middle class life in big cities and love and relationships in "Issız Adam" (Isolated Man). In "Gitmek" (My Marlon and Brando), you will see a woman’s quest to reach her loved one through the most arduous journey. And "Mutluluk" (Bliss) will take you on a magical journey in a not-so-magical backdrop, where a boy is set to kill a girl in the name of honor.

Isolated Man: Boy mIsses girl
The idiosyncrasies of two everyday Turkish men proved to be the most popular in Turkish cinema last year. The mishaps of Recep İvedik in the movie named after its protagonist and Arif in "A.R.O.G." drew millions to movie theaters. The most popular movie following these two, however, turned out to be a tearjerker penned by movie critic Uğur Vardan as "Turkey’s answer to the love story." Acclaimed director Çağan Irmak’s "Issız Adam" struck a chord especially among the upper-middle class in big cities.The movie portrayed life in big cities (Istanbul in this case) as the ultimate source of unhappiness. The boy-meets-girl, boy-dumps-girl, then boy-misses-girl story featured Alper (Cemal Hünel) as its male protagonist who tries filling the void in his life through consumption, eccentric hobbies and mindless sex. He gradually falls for Ada (Melis Birkan), her blend of caution, naivetŽ and strength disarming him in a way he had not experienced before. Despite its shortcomings, the story of Alper and Ada resonated among an audience lost in the mind-boggling pace of big cities.

My Marlon and Brando: Girl misses boy

Another heart-breaking love story came from acclaimed documentary director Hüseyin Karabey in his feature debut "Gitmek." The story of Turkish actress Ayça hitting the road to find her boyfriend Hama Ali in his country, northern Iraq, blurred the lines between feature and documentary. Ayça Damgacı not only played herself in the movie, but also collaborated with Karabey to pen the script, adding her dose of fiction to her quest to find her lover. The movie is taking its protagonist to eastern Turkey, to Iran and finally toward her boyfriend. Even though some of the improvised scenes occasionally turned the movie into a political documentary, Damgacı’s performance lit the screen whenever she had to relive her arduous journey.


Bliss: BOY SAVES GIRL
A major social heartburn, honor killings, has been a hot topic for various feature films in Turkey over the last couple years. Perhaps the most popular among these is the adaptation of novelist Zülfü Livaneli’s international bestseller "Mutluluk" by director Abdullah Oğuz. Turkey’s sweetheart Özgü Namal plays Meryem, a girl faced with the nightmare of many young girls in the Southeast Turkey, ’töre,’ the deeply rooted ethical principles condemning women to strict rules of sexual practice. This ’honorable’ duty is given to distant cousin Cemal (Murat Han), who has just returned from completing another burdening social responsibility, his military service. The pair are asked to travel to Istanbul, where the execution is going to take place during the journey. The film shines a light on women’s status in Turkey, the complicated dynamics of sexual and familial relations, how virtue, honor and the so-called ’töre’ can be as scary for men as it is for women, and the indifference of the urban intellectual on class differences. But most importantly it is a love story that will stay with you long after the movie is over.