Yol (1982)

When five Kurdish prisoners are granted one week's home leave, they find to their dismay that they face continued oppression outside of prison from their families, the culture, and the government.

Directors:

Serif Gören, Yilmaz Güney

Writer:

Yilmaz Güney

Stars:

Tarik Akan, Serif Sezer, Halil Ergün

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 7 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tarik Akan	...	Seyit Ali
Serif Sezer	...	Ziné
Halil Ergün	...	Mehmet Salih
Meral Orhonsay	...	Emine
Necmettin Çobanoglu	...	Ömer
Semra Uçar	...	Gülbahar
Hikmet Çelik	...	Mevlüt
Sevda Aktolga	...	Meral
Tuncay Akça	...	Yusuf
Hale Akinli	...	Seyran
Turgut Savas	...	Zafer
Hikmet Tasdemir	...	Sevket
Engin Çelik	...	Mirza
Osman Bardakçi	...	Berber Elim
Enver Güney	...	Cindé

Storyline

A harsh portrait of Turkey, its people and its authorities, shown through the stories of five prisoners given a week's home leave, and the problems they encounter in adjusting to the world outside.

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Plot Keywords:

socialist realism | city | tragedy | murdered with a gun | looking at a photograph | 

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Taglines:

The story of three families' search for freedom.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie was the first turkish movie which won an international price (Palme d'or of Cannes Festival) and it was made by a Kurdish.

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Quotes

Seyit Ali: There's pity in one corner of my heart and hatred in the other.

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Alternate Versions

The original version of the Ömer segments included a sequence in which the plight of Turkey's Kurdish population is discussed, with the sequence prefaced with the location title 'Kurdistan'. The sensitivity surrounding this issue in Turkey was part of the reason the film was banned there for many years. These scenes were not restored to the 2017 'Full Version' release, nor are the included on the Korean-issued DVD of the film.

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Connections

Version of Yol: The Full Version (2017)

User Reviews

political prisoners

Turkey is officially the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, along with Israel. But "Yol" shows that regardless of Turkey's official classification, it does have political prisoners. In this case, five of them are given a leave so that they can visit their families. While on their leaves, they (and the audience) get to see the realities of life. They may have been released from prison, but there are some metaphoric prisons that we can never escape, no matter how free we consider ourselves.

It was interesting that Yilmaz Guney managed to make this movie from jail. He did a very good job here.

Details

Official Sites:

Yol Living

Country:

Turkey Switzerland France

Language:

Turkish Kurdish

Release Date:

1 September 1982 (France)

Also Known As:

Az út

Filming Locations:

Diyarbakir, Turkey

Company Credits

Production Co:

Güney Film, Cactus Film, France 2 (FR2)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby Digital (Restored version)

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1