Olympics 2012 Film Part 2 - South Africa, Yugoslavia, Turkey, New Zealand & Austria

By Dan Lewis / August 17, 2012

Turkey 82 Medals

Turkish cinema is relatively new. Prior to the 1950s, less than 50 films had been produced within the country. Instead its box office relied on imports from the behemoths of America and Germany. After the 1950s however, there was a massive change. With Turkey becoming one of the fastest growing production lines of film in the world, the period would be known as Yesilicam; Turkeys answer to Hollywood. However, fast forward to the 2000s, and their national cinema has had to receive mouth to mouth. The introduction of television and home video into the country during the 80s, had a dramatic effect on ticket sales, and it is only now that production levels have risen once more. However, Turkish cinema is not just limited to its own nation. With a large amount of migration from Turkey to Germany, many films coming out of Germany comment upon this diaspora and the effect it has upon the different cultures. In fact, some of the best Turkish cinema comes from narrative diaspora, involving Germany, which is home to nearly two and a half million Turks, moreover, Berlin is even referred to as the third largest Turkish city behind Istanbul and Ankara. The New cinema of Turkey, deals with this divergence of cultures in a variety of ways, often making a wider comment on the loss of identity and belonging, associated with immigration. Bronze Yol (Serif Goren, 1982)

Such was the controversy surrounding this film, that there remains a sense of irony in its beginning. The script writer for the film, Yilmaz Guney, was in jail when the film was being made, therefore a promotion was given to his assistant director, Serif Goren, to direct his screenplay. And jail, is exactly where the film begins. Yol is a story about 5 Kurdish prisoners, who, having served a third of their time in prison, are given a week to visit their homes. Although free from prison, returning to the lives they once had is confinement in itself. Trapped by tradition, each prisoner must overcome his limited freedom. And although their hope in freedom is depressingly constrained, their return to their lives on the outside has a redemptive yet haunting quality. Guney, who was imprisoned for murder, went on to escape from prison and edit the film himself; becoming the principal cinematic voice to the Kurdish people. Kurdish life in Turkey is problematic; many Turks remain prejudiced to their culture, denying them a true voice within Turkey. Guney has in some ways provided that voice on a cultural level. Yol is an extremely important film for the Kurdish population of Turkey, and although made 30 years ago, still raises issues which remain socially today. Guney would unfortunately go on to make one more film before dying, while exiled in France. He will forever remain the most important cultural voice for Kurdish culture, even in death. Silver - The Edge of Heaven (Fatih Akin, 2007)

Fatih Akin is a name synonymous with contemporary Turkish cinema, yet his identity as a German-Turk is imperative to understanding the role he plays towards Turkeys national cinema. This is particularly prevalent in The Edge of Heaven, a film many consider to be hist masterpiece, where the role of diaspora is instilled in the narrative. It interweaves the lives of many different characters, with the exception being, that these different narrative strands never actually meet for the characters, only for the audience. It begins with a working class Pretty Woman-esque narrative of Ali, a Turkish immigrant living in Bremen, who falls for a Turkish prostitute named Yeter. When she is accidentally killed in a fit of rage by Ali, he goes to prison. His son Nejat, accompanies her body back to Istanbul and seeks out her daughter with whom she had lost contact with. While there he fails to find her, but falls for the charm of a local German speaking bookshop and decides to buy it. Switching between Istanbul and Bremen we eventually meet her daughter called Ayten. Involved in a communist resistance group, soon she will arrive in Germany beginning yet another strand. Without giving any more away, the relationship between German and Turkish characters continues, but never do the characters realise how they are linked; that privilege is only given to the audience. What is the importance of this? Well Akin, breaks down the barriers and borders of nationality, an issue for diaspora across Europe, by doing so he suggests that we are all linked by our humanity. The characters do not need to have that realisation, they live their lives making choices that they have to live by. For narrative purposes we need the closure, but for them closure is in their own grief, justice and faith, spread across two different countries. Gold Uzak (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2002)

A clear winner of Gold, Uzak is the shining star of New Turkish cinema. With dialogue at a minimum, it is a film which relies on its silences to speak volumes. A simplistic story of a young unemployed man named Yusuf, who comes to Istanbul to stay with his divorced cousin Mahmut, a bitter but successful photographer resentful of the dull everyday life he leads. While in Istanbul, Yusuf aims to work on boats as he believes that it will be a wealthy career to obtain. The two men are at complete polar opposites, Yusuf is optimistic, while Mahmut despite his success has grown unenthusiastic. Uzak translates into English as distance, and it is clear that between the two of them lies a massive gulf. Yusuf seeks capitalist exploits whilst sacrificing any passions he once had in life, whereas Mahmut has achieved success in life, but is left lonely having isolated himself from the world. They drift through their lives, Ceylan allowing them to, never adding any indulgent dialogue to fill the void. The characters arent able to communicate with each other due to the spatial difference between them, in other films Im sure the communication would be forced, but here its left to be. Some might find it dull or that it meanders without purpose, the camerawork even suggests this, often to be found supposedly lingering on nothingness. However, therein lays its beauty, the characters are distant from each other and the world itself, in some cases avoiding life and in others never being able to progress further, delving deeper into their isolation. Ceylan himself is a talent to behold. And with the recent and brilliant Once Upon a time in Anatolia becoming the 7th film he has directed, written and produced, I think we can say he knows how to multitask to produce greatness.