Kirpi, a hero for our age but where are real heroes?
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Emrah Güler
OluÅŸturulma Tarihi: Åžubat 07, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The film adaptation of acclaimed writer Sulhi Dölek’s novel, ’Kirpi’ (The Hedgehog), gives us a hero we know very well, but can hardly empathize or sympathize with. Where have all the honest, decent and lovable underdogs of Turkish cinema like Tourist Ömer gone?
It makes total sense for the underdog to become a hero in popular culture but what happens if the negative qualities of that underdog go beyond ignorance and offensiveness, and the character is a sneaky and sinister dirt bag? So much for empathy or sympathy.Â
The recent Turkish comedy "Kirpi," meaning hedgehog, takes its name from its protagonist Kirpi Reşat, Reşat the Hedgehog, a popular Turkish nickname often given to people for unruly hair. The film is directed and co-written by Erdal Murat Aktaş, known for his debut feature "Mumya Firarda" (Runaway Mummy), a near miss on the Internet Movie Database, or IMDb’s, Top Bottom films, and experienced television writer Atay Sözer. It stars Mazhar Alanson as Kirpi Reşat, one of Turkey’s most famous pop musicians over the last four decades and an actor for the last two, the symbol of a mid-life crisis with a new love life and a fashion sense that came from before the last decade.
"Kirpi," however, has been eagerly anticipated, not because of its director or leading actor, but because of its original subject material.
Based on a novel
The film is based on an award-winning novel of the same name from late Turkish writer Sulhi Dölek. Dölek is known as much for his novels and stories as his groundbreaking scripts for such popular TV shows as "Süper Baba" (Super Dad), "İkinci Bahar" (Spring Revisited) and the recent "Yabancı Damat (Foreign Groom). Dölek’s characters breathe as if they existed in real life while his take on social structures is accurate and adorned with his special brand of humor.
Kirpi ReÅŸat is definitely a living, breathing character, but not someone who audiences can easily empathize with or care about. ReÅŸat does not like to work, does not care about anyone but himself and simply gives no added value to society. He brags about his grudges, spends time and energy on petty revenges that turn into elaborate pranks.
The film begins with a line based on a quote from Oscar Wilde: "We can never become enemies with those we understand." We then see a quotation from Kirpi ReÅŸat on the screen: "We can never understand our enemies." These quote sum up the soul of the leading character and the soul of the movie. The film asks us to enjoy cruel pranks on innocent, honest and hardworking people, and most importantly take the side of the protagonist.
With Borat or Recep Ä°vedik, two controversial anti-heroes who were ignorant and totally out of sync with the concept of political correctness, it was easy to understand their charm. Kirpi ReÅŸat, on the other hand, is as charming as a snake in your bed.
Changing heroes of Turkish cinema
Sadly, Reşat also personifies the kind of hero we have come to embrace and celebrate after the 1980s when President Özal opened the way for an open economy and encouraged Western policies. This meant endless options to make a quick buck, looking down on working hard and immigration to big cities with great hopes. Great hopes led to great disappointments, a new class of nouveau rich and a widening gap among classes.
It is no coincidence that last year’s two greatest hits at the box-office came in the form of these heroes, "A.R.O.G."s Arif and Recep İvedik, from the highest-grossing movie of the same name. These were average men who found their own ways to cope with and adapt to the changing classes, who found their way among the endless options to obtain a lifestyle they looked up to. Working hard and being honest were low on the list.
The popularity of these heroes has been tested enough to make many Turkish audiences sad, remembering the underdogs of Turkish cinema of past decades. It was Feridun Karakaya’s "Cilalı İbo" (Polished İbo) and Sadri Alışık’s "Turist Ömer" (Tourist Ömer) in the 1960s. It was Kemal Sunal’s naive villager, later immigrant of the 1970s, always fighting against the establishment in his unique way, becoming the king of the door keepers, the king of the street cleaners, the king of the guards.
And in 1980s and 1990s, Şener Şen became the most popular underdog of Turkish cinema with memorable characters from such hits as "Muhsin Bey," "Selamsız Bandosu" (Selamsız’s Band) "Züğürt Ağa" (The Agha) and "Eşkıya" (Bandit). With "Recep İvedik 2," days away from its national theatrical release, DVD shelves await many.
The recent Turkish comedy "Kirpi," meaning hedgehog, takes its name from its protagonist Kirpi Reşat, Reşat the Hedgehog, a popular Turkish nickname often given to people for unruly hair. The film is directed and co-written by Erdal Murat Aktaş, known for his debut feature "Mumya Firarda" (Runaway Mummy), a near miss on the Internet Movie Database, or IMDb’s, Top Bottom films, and experienced television writer Atay Sözer. It stars Mazhar Alanson as Kirpi Reşat, one of Turkey’s most famous pop musicians over the last four decades and an actor for the last two, the symbol of a mid-life crisis with a new love life and a fashion sense that came from before the last decade.
"Kirpi," however, has been eagerly anticipated, not because of its director or leading actor, but because of its original subject material.
Based on a novel
The film is based on an award-winning novel of the same name from late Turkish writer Sulhi Dölek. Dölek is known as much for his novels and stories as his groundbreaking scripts for such popular TV shows as "Süper Baba" (Super Dad), "İkinci Bahar" (Spring Revisited) and the recent "Yabancı Damat (Foreign Groom). Dölek’s characters breathe as if they existed in real life while his take on social structures is accurate and adorned with his special brand of humor.
Kirpi ReÅŸat is definitely a living, breathing character, but not someone who audiences can easily empathize with or care about. ReÅŸat does not like to work, does not care about anyone but himself and simply gives no added value to society. He brags about his grudges, spends time and energy on petty revenges that turn into elaborate pranks.
The film begins with a line based on a quote from Oscar Wilde: "We can never become enemies with those we understand." We then see a quotation from Kirpi ReÅŸat on the screen: "We can never understand our enemies." These quote sum up the soul of the leading character and the soul of the movie. The film asks us to enjoy cruel pranks on innocent, honest and hardworking people, and most importantly take the side of the protagonist.
With Borat or Recep Ä°vedik, two controversial anti-heroes who were ignorant and totally out of sync with the concept of political correctness, it was easy to understand their charm. Kirpi ReÅŸat, on the other hand, is as charming as a snake in your bed.
Changing heroes of Turkish cinema
Sadly, Reşat also personifies the kind of hero we have come to embrace and celebrate after the 1980s when President Özal opened the way for an open economy and encouraged Western policies. This meant endless options to make a quick buck, looking down on working hard and immigration to big cities with great hopes. Great hopes led to great disappointments, a new class of nouveau rich and a widening gap among classes.
It is no coincidence that last year’s two greatest hits at the box-office came in the form of these heroes, "A.R.O.G."s Arif and Recep İvedik, from the highest-grossing movie of the same name. These were average men who found their own ways to cope with and adapt to the changing classes, who found their way among the endless options to obtain a lifestyle they looked up to. Working hard and being honest were low on the list.
The popularity of these heroes has been tested enough to make many Turkish audiences sad, remembering the underdogs of Turkish cinema of past decades. It was Feridun Karakaya’s "Cilalı İbo" (Polished İbo) and Sadri Alışık’s "Turist Ömer" (Tourist Ömer) in the 1960s. It was Kemal Sunal’s naive villager, later immigrant of the 1970s, always fighting against the establishment in his unique way, becoming the king of the door keepers, the king of the street cleaners, the king of the guards.
And in 1980s and 1990s, Şener Şen became the most popular underdog of Turkish cinema with memorable characters from such hits as "Muhsin Bey," "Selamsız Bandosu" (Selamsız’s Band) "Züğürt Ağa" (The Agha) and "Eşkıya" (Bandit). With "Recep İvedik 2," days away from its national theatrical release, DVD shelves await many.