Turkish Media Spotlight: Korkuyorum Anne

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Last night we watched the best Turkish film I’ve ever seen. It’s called Korkuyorum Anne, and although it’s billed as a comedy and it is intensely funny, it also has a sweet story and is very heartwarming. It’s kind of like a Turkish version of Monsoon Wedding, I guess. Funnier, though.

It makes a nice change from all the Turkish art films I’ve been watching lately, which are either really badly made, extremely depressing in a “this is your Turkish life, the only way to escape it is to kill yourself” kind of way, or both. This film actually portrayed some of the good things about living in Turkey, which I thought was a refreshing change. Don’t get me wrong, Uzak was also a fine film, a beautiful film, but its sole message seemed to be that life in Turkey is difficult, impossible at times, and you can never, ever hope for anything better except maybe death. The worst part was watching the protagonist go through the motions of his life and seeing so much of our own lives in that. My friend Gary, ever the pessimist, once told me that people think moving across the world all the time is exciting, but really you’re just trading wasting away in one place for wasting away in a different place. Uzak was about wasting away in Turkey. The protagonist kept going down to the sea and then stopping at the shore and just gazing across the water, this sort of symbolic trying the prison gate and then settling for staring out between the bars, knowing you will never see the light of day. Korkuyorum, on the other hand, was about families who stick together and love each other and laugh sometimes and make lemonade. I need to see more films like that.

12 Comments

  1. 25 August 2007
    Reply

    This is really a good movie. If you did’nt watch yet, don’t miss Hacivat Karagoz Neden Olduruldu and Son Osmanli: Yandim Ali.

    These are great productions with funny stories…

  2. 25 August 2007
    Reply

    This is really a good movie. If you did’nt watch yet, don’t miss Hacivat Karagoz Neden Olduruldu and Son Osmanli: Yandim Ali.

    These are great productions with funny stories…

  3. 26 August 2007
    Reply

    @Emre: Ah fantastic, I’m always looking for film recommendations… thanks for that.

  4. 26 August 2007
    Reply

    @Emre: Ah fantastic, I’m always looking for film recommendations… thanks for that.

  5. Ciara Maples
    28 August 2007
    Reply

    Hi there, i came across your blog when i was doing a name search. I don’t know many other people with the same last name as me and was wondering where you’re from? Maybe we’re related somehow. Hope to hear from you, if you want you can post and blog and let me know.
    Thx
    Ciara

  6. Ciara Maples
    28 August 2007
    Reply

    Hi there, i came across your blog when i was doing a name search. I don’t know many other people with the same last name as me and was wondering where you’re from? Maybe we’re related somehow. Hope to hear from you, if you want you can post and blog and let me know.
    Thx
    Ciara

  7. 31 August 2007
    Reply

    @Ciara: I sent you an e-mail!

  8. 31 August 2007
    Reply

    @Ciara: I sent you an e-mail!

  9. 23 September 2007
    Reply

    @Melissa you must watch Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul, if u didnt. (in English)
    @Melissa Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul’u izlemelisin, eğer izlemediysen. (in Turkish) ; ) loves..

  10. 23 September 2007
    Reply

    @Melissa you must watch Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul, if u didnt. (in English)
    @Melissa Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul’u izlemelisin, eğer izlemediysen. (in Turkish) ; ) loves..

  11. 27 September 2007
    Reply

    @Erhan: right, I’ve added it to the queue of stuff to watch. Thanks for the recommendation, I’m always looking for stuff like this. 🙂

  12. 27 September 2007
    Reply

    @Erhan: right, I’ve added it to the queue of stuff to watch. Thanks for the recommendation, I’m always looking for stuff like this. 🙂

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