********CONTAINS SPOILERS********
I came across this film on Netflix and was intrigued because it was about a Turkish family. The film is made by an Austrian company however most of the film is in Turkish. This was the first Turkish film I have ever found on Netflix so I had to watch it.
The film follows a young woman named Ayse (which is my name, this is just the Turkish spelling) who is from an old village somewhere in Turkey and her family have arranged her to marry with a man who is Turkish but lives in Germany. The thing is the man who they are setting her up with is an old man who is already married with six children. How are they going to get away with this and why, I suspect your asking yourselves.. Well they pretend she is marrying the second oldest son Hasan because he is a young handsome man so no one will suspect that really she is marrying Mustafa so she can take over the family when Fatma his other wife passes away as she is dying with cancer.
Now at this point I was like what on earth, because usually in Turkish families the children would look after the parents especially the fact that the children are old enough to look after themselves in the film however I think this is portraying poor and uneducated Turkish lifestyle.
As the film goes on you feel sorry for Ayse, the fact she's forced into something she didn't want to do, and things get worse because she gets pregnant by Mustafa therefore has to stay with the family no matter what. I found it so awkward to watch and I understood the children's reactions and the way they treated Ayse however they should understand that it wasn't her choice to live this kind of lifestyle.
Fatma is still dying of cancer and there is a scene in the hospital when everyone is awaiting the results of her condition and the camera cuts to a funeral scene. Now at this point I was like aww yeah the mum has died, not realising that in fact Mustafa, the father had! I couldn't believe it, what a great twist to the film! Now I felt even more sorry for Ayse. But oh it got worse for her, she begins falling in love with Hasan which you want to happen as you her to be happy but he comes out gay! Poor Ayse! The fact that it is forbidden in Islam to be homosexual, I think this film brought up issues that are happening but are not being confronted, so I am glad they added this into the film.
The mise-en-scene made you feel like you were in Turkey and not Germany, the house was full of traditional Turkish ornaments and rugs, Turkish food and the way they behaved. It was like they were living in a small Turkish community as the supermarket they went to was run by Turkish people and had Turkish workers. They try to single out Ayse by speaking German however she starts to learn it which proves to them she wants to be apart of the family.
This poor girl has had it tough but I think the film is showing stereotypes of traditional Turkish families. For example village girls like Ayse are usually sent to marry someone rich so they can have a better life, Kezvan's husband beats her but she doesn't want help, this shows that traditional families keep to themselves and do not want to get involved. I think the film is portraying rejection, desperation, secrets and showing that there are different generations of Turkish families. You can see they are uneducated and a different generation because of their behaviours, the behaviours most of the characters show would be considered taboo.
I did enjoy this film as I didn't expect there to literally be so much drama, it was melodramatic however it had good acting which made it believable. I would recommend you to watch it!
Please comment with your thoughts!
Cast
Nihal G. Koldas as Fatma
Begum Akkaya as Ayse
Vedat Erincin as Mustafa
Murathan Muslu as Hasan
Alev Imak as Kezvan
Aliye Esra Salebci as Gulsen
Ethem Saygieder as Ibrahim
Abdulkadir Tuncer as Mehmet
Director
Umut Dag
Screenplay
Umut Dag
Petra Ladinigg
0 comments:
Post a Comment