From book to film: Land of shadowless
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Emrah Güler
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 07, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Novelist Hasan Ali Toptaş’s cult novel ’Gölgesizler’ (The Shadowless), which won the prestigious Yunus Nadi Novel Award in 1994, turns into a movie gem in the hands of experienced and award winning writer/director Ümit Ünal.
Screens in Turkey have seen more than their fair share of Turkish movies in recent years. The more than 50 movies released last year pose a stark comparison to merely dozens of films in the 1980s and 1990s.
With this proliferation and range of movies from comedy to historical pictures and science fiction, one would expect adaptations from Turkish novels among the mix. Interestingly, creative forces in literature and cinema hardly mix and match in Turkey.
That’s why it was a pleasant and, to some extent head-scratching, surprise to see Turkish novelist Hasan Ali Toptaş’s decade-old cult novel, "Gölgesizler" (The Shadowless), adapted to the screen. Pleasant, because the novel has had a cult following since it won the prestigious Yunus Nadi Novel award in 1994 and its adaptation was written and directed by the gifted Ümit Ünal.
Head-scratching, because the novel is a surrealist story with a non-linear narrative, going back and forth in time, requiring a second read for the ultimate pleasure. Toptaş’s debut novel has stirred excitement not only in his home country but also throughout Europe over the years. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung referred to Toptaş as the "Kafka of the East," praising him further with these words: "It’s worth learning Turkish just to be able to read the works of Toptaş." That was why the Turkish audience was curious about what the novelist and the writer/director of the novel’s adaptation had to say for the movie.
Place reminds one of Twin Peaks town
A rarity in Turkish cinema, the producer, director, screenwriter and the writer of the original work were all on the same page. Toptaş went on to say that film and literature are two separate media, "one is enjoyed in the dark, the other is enjoyed in the light," and the movie was beyond his expectations.
Ümit Ünal was cautious for not alienating the fans of the book, saying that the movie can only be called a "cover" of the novel, and tens of other movies can be made of the novel with multiple layers.
The story puts its protagonist, the barber, into two places simultaneously: The city, and far, far away, to a village "forgotten by God and the government." The intersecting stories show the barber leaving his shop to go after the young apprentice, arriving at a village out of the blue and beginning a new life in a remote place as a nobody.
As the barber settles in, we are introduced to the bizarre characters and their lives in the village where it’s hard to grasp a sense of time and place. It might be the 1950s, or 1970s, or 2009. With its oddities, the place reminds one more of David Lynch’s bizarre town Twin Peaks than your average Anatolian village. As the movie unfolds, we are introduced to secret relations, village folks disappearing one after another, and the area’s bizarre history.
Enjoy the journey into a dreamscape
The book is dubbed as "the book of losses." And the movie is a film of losses, of people with no sense of identity, of past and future, people with no shadows. The disappearance of the village bell Güvercin (Dove) turns into a mystery, but the barber continues to embrace his role as mere spectator. But "Gölgesizler" doesn’t focus on the mystery story. Instead there are the interchanging stories of the village and the urban barbershop.
The storyline can be confusing for an audience that is comfortable with linear narrative. The inhabitants of the village and their intricate dynamics take you to a dreamscape, asking only that the audience sit back and enjoy the journey.
The movie doesn’t feature any single leading character, with 22 actors sharing roles of equal importance. The collaborative nature of the film brings the best out in each actor, a special surprise coming from producer Hakan Karahan taking the role of the guard with impressive results, his monologue toward the film’s end lingers with the audience long after the movie is over. Take special notice of the movie’s soundtrack with the song ’Ben Kimim’ (Who am I?) playing at the end by the singer, songwriter Candan Erçetin (producer Karahan’s girlfriend of 14 years for gossip aficionados).
With this proliferation and range of movies from comedy to historical pictures and science fiction, one would expect adaptations from Turkish novels among the mix. Interestingly, creative forces in literature and cinema hardly mix and match in Turkey.
That’s why it was a pleasant and, to some extent head-scratching, surprise to see Turkish novelist Hasan Ali Toptaş’s decade-old cult novel, "Gölgesizler" (The Shadowless), adapted to the screen. Pleasant, because the novel has had a cult following since it won the prestigious Yunus Nadi Novel award in 1994 and its adaptation was written and directed by the gifted Ümit Ünal.
Head-scratching, because the novel is a surrealist story with a non-linear narrative, going back and forth in time, requiring a second read for the ultimate pleasure. Toptaş’s debut novel has stirred excitement not only in his home country but also throughout Europe over the years. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung referred to Toptaş as the "Kafka of the East," praising him further with these words: "It’s worth learning Turkish just to be able to read the works of Toptaş." That was why the Turkish audience was curious about what the novelist and the writer/director of the novel’s adaptation had to say for the movie.
Place reminds one of Twin Peaks town
A rarity in Turkish cinema, the producer, director, screenwriter and the writer of the original work were all on the same page. Toptaş went on to say that film and literature are two separate media, "one is enjoyed in the dark, the other is enjoyed in the light," and the movie was beyond his expectations.
Ümit Ünal was cautious for not alienating the fans of the book, saying that the movie can only be called a "cover" of the novel, and tens of other movies can be made of the novel with multiple layers.
The story puts its protagonist, the barber, into two places simultaneously: The city, and far, far away, to a village "forgotten by God and the government." The intersecting stories show the barber leaving his shop to go after the young apprentice, arriving at a village out of the blue and beginning a new life in a remote place as a nobody.
As the barber settles in, we are introduced to the bizarre characters and their lives in the village where it’s hard to grasp a sense of time and place. It might be the 1950s, or 1970s, or 2009. With its oddities, the place reminds one more of David Lynch’s bizarre town Twin Peaks than your average Anatolian village. As the movie unfolds, we are introduced to secret relations, village folks disappearing one after another, and the area’s bizarre history.
Enjoy the journey into a dreamscape
The book is dubbed as "the book of losses." And the movie is a film of losses, of people with no sense of identity, of past and future, people with no shadows. The disappearance of the village bell Güvercin (Dove) turns into a mystery, but the barber continues to embrace his role as mere spectator. But "Gölgesizler" doesn’t focus on the mystery story. Instead there are the interchanging stories of the village and the urban barbershop.
The storyline can be confusing for an audience that is comfortable with linear narrative. The inhabitants of the village and their intricate dynamics take you to a dreamscape, asking only that the audience sit back and enjoy the journey.
The movie doesn’t feature any single leading character, with 22 actors sharing roles of equal importance. The collaborative nature of the film brings the best out in each actor, a special surprise coming from producer Hakan Karahan taking the role of the guard with impressive results, his monologue toward the film’s end lingers with the audience long after the movie is over. Take special notice of the movie’s soundtrack with the song ’Ben Kimim’ (Who am I?) playing at the end by the singer, songwriter Candan Erçetin (producer Karahan’s girlfriend of 14 years for gossip aficionados).