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IMDbPro

Yol

  • 19821982
  • PGPG
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
14K
YOUR RATING
Tarik Akan and Serif Sezer in Yol (1982)
  • Drama
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 gover... Read allWhen 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.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.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
14K
YOUR RATING
  • Directors
    • Serif Gören(for imprisoned Yilmaz Güney)
    • Yilmaz Güney(by proxy Serif Gören)
  • Writer
    • Yilmaz Güney
  • Stars
    • Tarik Akan
    • Serif Sezer
    • Halil Ergün
Top credits
  • Directors
    • Serif Gören(for imprisoned Yilmaz Güney)
    • Yilmaz Güney(by proxy Serif Gören)
  • Writer
    • Yilmaz Güney
  • Stars
    • Tarik Akan
    • Serif Sezer
    • Halil Ergün
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 39User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 7 wins & 4 nominations

    Photos58

    Tarik Akan and Serif Sezer in Yol (1982)
    Tarik Akan and Serif Sezer in Yol (1982)
    Tarik Akan and Serif Sezer in Yol (1982)
    Tarik Akan and Serif Sezer in Yol (1982)
    Hikmet Çelik in Yol (1982)
    Tuncay Akça in Yol (1982)
    Yol (1982)
    Tarik Akan and Halil Ergün in Yol (1982)
    Güven Sengil in Yol (1982)
    Yol (1982)
    Halil Ergün and Necmettin Çobanoglu in Yol (1982)
    Hikmet Çelik and Necmettin Çobanoglu in Yol (1982)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Tarik Akan
    Tarik Akan
    • Seyit Alias Seyit Ali
    Serif Sezer
    Serif Sezer
    • Zinéas Ziné
    Halil Ergün
    • Mehmet Salihas Mehmet Salih
    Meral Orhonsay
    Meral Orhonsay
    • Emineas Emine
    Güven Sengil
    • Süleymanas Süleyman
    Necmettin Çobanoglu
    • Ömeras Ömer
    Semra Uçar
    • Gülbaharas Gülbahar
    Hikmet Çelik
    • Mevlütas Mevlüt
    Sevda Aktolga
    • Meralas Meral
    Tuncay Akça
    • Yusufas Yusuf
    Hale Akinli
    • Seyranas Seyran
    Turgut Savas
    • Zaferas Zafer
    Hikmet Tasdemir
    Hikmet Tasdemir
    • Sevketas Sevket
    Engin Çelik
    • Mirzaas Mirza
    Osman Bardakçi
    • Berber Elimas Berber Elim
    Enver Güney
    • Cindéas Cindé
    Erdogan Seren
    • Abdullahas Abdullah
    Güngör Bayrak
    • Nazifeas Nazife
    • Directors
      • Serif Gören(for imprisoned Yilmaz Güney)
      • Yilmaz Güney(by proxy Serif Gören)
    • Writer
      • Yilmaz Güney
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Yilmaz Güney was in prison when the film was made. He wrote a detailed screenplay and acted out some scenes in his jail cell and Serif Gören directed the film according to his strict instructions.
    • Quotes

      Zafer: If a patient expects help from his physician, he has to be open and honest. To give false info, would be misleading him.

    • 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.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Movies to Change the World (2011)

    User reviews39

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Best Turkish film of the 1980s
    I am completing a thesis on Turkish cinema. I have seen many Turkish films, and I think this is definitely one of the five best and certainly the best one of its' era though the underrated "Polizei" which "Yol"'s co-director Serif Goren helmed is right up there. "Yol" is amazing for many reasons. I have heard some amazing Hollywood back stories of how films like "MASH" and "Apocalypse Now" were hellish shoots. But, none of them matches what the filmmakers did on this project. "Yol" was secretly filmed, and the entire cast, which included box office icon Tarik Akan risked being blacklisted. The film was subsequently banned in Turkey until 1992, and it was not shown theatrically there until 1999. It is a scathing indictment of political and social oppression in Turkey in the early 1980s. Symbolism is used throughout the film, with birds representing freedom, horses representing virtue, and women representing oppression. Many Westerneners have labeled Yilmaz Guney, Turkey's best known director who envisioned "Yol" from his prison and then while in exile, a champion of feminist ideals. But, if one sees some of his earlier film like "Canli Hedef/Live Target" they might be in for a surprise (that film features an off-camera rape of a 10-year old girl). I like Guney's films but I agree with Serif Goren's assessment that his contributions to "Yol" were completely overlooked. Goren proved to be a capable director in his own right, and his film "10 Kadin/10 Women" is perhaps the essential film for expressing ideals which are sympathetic to feminism- a movement that I sympathize with in terms of Turkey, but am neutral towards in the West. "Yol" also deals with Kurdish suppression. One of the more poignant moments in the film comes when Halil Ergun's character comes to back to his hometown Diyarbakir (in Eastern Turkey) on the train during his prison leave. He comments how strange it is to be back home. The central theme of the film is that the oppressive elements of prison life are evident just as much on the outside. Personally, I think Turkey has made significant progress in recent years. It is a shame that except for Michael Moore, Barbara Kopple, and Tim Robbins, very few American film makers take these kinds of risks that Guney and Goren did with "Yol." In my view, the more recent Turkish film "Distant" has surpassed "Yol" as the best Turkish film ever made, but this is still a magnificent artistic achievement which can be merited as a classic in terms of international cinema.
    helpful•77
    21
    • turkam
    • Jan 19, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 1, 1982 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • Switzerland
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Languages
      • Turkish
      • Kurdish
    • Also known as
      • Yol: The Full Version
    • Filming locations
      • Diyarbakir, Turkey
    • Production companies
      • Cactus Film
      • DFK Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 54 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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