behramkale Reviews

Block C (1994)

Need more movies like this

[1 May 2002]

Somehow most Turkish directors cannot go beyond mediocre films, especially big names. In a 20-year period, there is really maybe a handful of good movies in Turkish cinema (at most). Scripts succeed in capturing neither the locally nor the globally interesting story. Both big box office hits and the critically acclaimed leave a lot to be desired (Eskiya, Vizontele, Propaganda, Abuzer Kadayif, Cazibe Hanimin Gunduz Dusleri, Salkim Hanimin Taneleri, Surgun, many others). In this bleak picture, Block C presents a good dose of fresh air. In this movie Demirkubuz shows he understands what movies are all about. The storyline is universal, yet very specific to what is happening in Istanbul during the last quarter of 20th century. Although it takes a bit of effort on the viewer's part to appreciate the depth of the story, this is a great movie with a powerful story to tell. We need more movies like this, and if the director's performance at Cannes 2002 (*two* movies in the regular program, a first according to what I read), is any indication, we may have a great director in the making. Block C is a good movie with an intelligent story you will think about after seeing and not quite forget.

Vizontele (2001)

Not Camdan Kalp

[23 April 2002]

This movie broke (by far) all time box office records in Turkey and it was highly regarded by critics. It appears all critiques at IMDb so far are also quite positive. But, I have several reservations about this movie. One of the first is also expressed by another reviewer. The script is more like a theater play than a movie; it is really a series of sketches, similar to those you would find in some TV series (MASH in the US comes to mind). Second, and maybe this was an unrealistic expectation on my part, is the absence of a commentary. Somehow I expected a deeper social expose or a commentary about TV entering into social life in rural areas, especially in Eastern or Southeastern Turkey. It turned out the Gevas, Van locale played no specific role. The movie could have taken place in any town in Turkey. TV changes lives in profound ways everywhere, especially in places such as Gevas which I felt was missing in a big way. Third is what I would consider a number of historical errors or omissions. The year is obviously 1974, specifically July 1974. I don't think this was a time when the Turkish (TRT) TV network extended into small towns via transponders yet, especially in Eastern Turkey. At the time even daytime Medium Wave radio reception could not have been as flawless in that area as depicted in the movie. The story about a two-member non-technician TRT crew delivering a transponder without installing it and the equipment being essentially ready to be plug-and-play is not realistic. This is an entertaining movie and maybe that is good enough for many people but based on what I have read I was somehow expecting another Camdan Kalp.

Propaganda (1999)

Absurd

[1/10 · 17 June 2001]

I am amazed at the number of things this director must have thought he could get away with. The events in the movie just cannot take place the way they are portrayed, and there are too many of them. The basic plot is an impossible one: I can understand a town being divided geographically by the new border, but not the story that some of its people would be left on the other side (and by force). The love story in the movie smells Hollywood, it just does not belong in a Southeastern Anatolian town. The ending is totally ridiculous. There are several "inside" jokes in the movie that for example a foreign spectator would not get, and their presence makes you think the director was not serious at all. The ambitious and job-conscious civil servant character is drawn in a heavy handed manner and disturbs as to the motivation of the director. Propaganda made me think that its director is a half-intellectual opportunist who has no respect for his own work. This movie is a total waste of time.