Yilanlarin öcü (1962)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Metin Erksan

Writers:

Fakir Baykurt (novel)
Metin Erksan (writer)

Release Date:

24 January 1962 (Turkey)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Snake | Pregnancy | Village | Wagon

Cast

Fikret Hakan	...	Kara Bayram
Nurhan Nur	...	Hatçe
Aliye Rona	...	Irazca
Erol Tas	...	Haceli
Kadir Savun	...	Ak Ali
Ali Sen	...	The headman
Sadiye Arcýman	...	Fatma
T. Fikret Uçak
Hakki Haktan

Also Known As:

Revenge of the Snakes (International: English title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Turkey

Language:

Turkish

Color:

Black and White

Company:

Be-Ya Film

An early realist classic from Turkey

This is one of several Turkish films I have chosen to examine for a college thesis on Turkish cinema. I found a copy of it by chance from a CD store in the Aksaray part of Istanbul, the last time I was in Turkey. This is quite a film. The Revenge of the Snakes is a definitive precursor to the films of Yilmaz Guney, Zeki Okten, Ali Ozgenturk, and Serif Goren. It is a simple tale of a young couple and their little boy trying to live a suitable life in a small Anatolian village. This is a multi-layered film in which the antagonists include the mother in law, the new neighbors- with whom there is a serious land dispute, the town chiefs, and government officials who are oblivious to the needs and concerns of the average person. The snake is a symbol for the incoming troubles that will haunt the couple. The lead actor Fikret Hakan and the whole cast is brilliant. If you like Turkish films, this is one to see. It is perhaps as relevant to Turkish cinema as Rosellini's "Open City" is to Italian cinema.