Profile | Mesut Kara

MESUT KARA


He was born in 1961 in Istanbul. Besides his literature works, he is a cinema writer for 15 years. Mesut Kara who is an Art Director in advertising sector, also produced programs about cinema. He has published two books named “Artizler Kahvesi” (Artists’ Coffeehouse) and “Yeşilçam’da Unutulmayan Yüzler” (Unforgettable faces in Yeşilcam). He has been writer and editor in many magazines. He is a text writer and consultant in a Cinema Program named in Cinema Show broadcasted on Show TV. He took responsibility for preparation and presentation of a cinema program named Hayalet Mektebi (School of Ghosts) broadcasted on Kanal 6. He was an editor-in-chief and page designer in Literature magazine named “Uç”. As of November 2007 he is the publisher of Cinemascope Dergisi,with a board of writers such as Prof. Dr. Oğuz Makal, Engin Ayça, Ahmet Soner, Taner Ay, Orhan Ünser and Barış Bardakçı

Filmography;

Yılmaz Güney Documentary (Director and Text Writer)
Erkan Yücel Documentary (Director and Text Writer)
“Unutulmayan Yüzler” (Unforgettable Faces) documentary series about the old-time Turkish actors, including Sezer Sezin, Belgin Doruk, Ayhan Işık, Bülent Oran, Hayati Hamzaoğlu, Turgut Özatay.
JUST PASSED FROM HERE |Simdi Gecti Buradan (Director and Text Writer)
Documentary. 2005, 60 minutes| In Turkish with English subtitles
Art adventure and biography of Erkan Yucel who is unforgettable face of cinema and legendary actor of theatre...

All time B.O. spectator ranking (as of November 2006)

1- Kurtlar Vadisi-Irak 4.255.181
2- G.O.R.A. 4.001.711
3- Babam ve Oğlum 3.813.437
4- Vizontele 3.308.383
5- Vizontele Tuuba 2.894.802
6- Organize İşler 2.610.563
7- Hababam Sınıfı Askerde 2.586.132
8- Eşkıya 2.568.339
9- Kahpe Bizans 2.472.162
10- Hababam Sınıfı Üç Buçuk 2.067.661

BBC Four World Cinema Award nominates Climates (Iklimler) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

The BBC Four World Cinema Award is an annual prize given out to celebrate the best in world cinema. A shortlist of six films is made by the UK's leading critics, film-school heads and festival directors from the foreign language films released in that year in the UK. The winner is selected by a panel of judges whose decision making process is screened as part of the award ceremony, screened live on BBC Four.

Now entering its fifth year, the BBC Four World Cinema Award ceremony has been hosted by Jonathan Ross from the BFI Southbank in London since the beginning. This year's award will be announced on Wednesday 30 January 2008, and broadcast on BBC Four Saturday 2 February 2008

2008 Nominees: The Lives Of Others (Das Leben Der Anderen), Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Germany; The Science Of Sleep (La Science Des Rêves), Michel Gondry, France/Italy/USA; Climates (Iklimler), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey/France; Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno), Guillermo del Toro, Mexico/Spain/USA; Syndromes And A Century (Sang Sattawat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Austria

Cannes 2007 Review "The Edge of Heaven "

The Edge of Heaven By Ray Bennett
Bottom Line: Intricate and moving drama about life's struggles and near misses.

May 24, 2007

Akin's tale is about two families whose fate becomes entwined.

CANNES -- Director Fatih Akin continues his insightful exploration of the things that divide and bridge different cultures and generations in his absorbing In Competition film "The Edge of Heaven." Like his 2004 Berlin Golden Bear winner "Head-On," the film deals with Turkish folk living in Germany but this time he brings his story back to Istanbul. Love was his topic in the earlier film, and now Akin turns his attention to death. It may not be a wise thing to label the major chapters announcing the deaths of key characters, but he tells their stories with flair and compassion. Audiences that responded to "Head-On" will be pleased with "Heaven," and festival and art house prospects look good.The director, who also wrote the script, achieves a keen-eyed view of the Turkish expatriates in this film while sustaining his remarkable ability to make them universal. His tale is about two families whose fate becomes entwined in ways they don't discover within the time frame of the film.It starts in Germany with Turkish immigrant Ali (Tuncel Kurtiz), a crusty retired widower whose son Nejat (Baki Davrak) is a successful academic. Uncouth but charismatic, Ali still seeks pleasures of the flesh, which is how he meets Yeter (Nursel Kose), a severely beautiful Turkish woman who works in a brothel. Taken with her charms and pleased to be speaking his native tongue, Ali proposes that he become her sole customer and asks her to move in with him.
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Cannes 2007 Review "Egg/Yumurta"

Egg/Yumurta By Duane Byrge

Bottom Line: Saadet Askoy lights up an otherwise dull and dim drama.May 24, 2007

CANNES -- Yusuf, a withdrawn poet living in Istanbul, returns to his tiny hometown for his mother's funeral. He's been distanced, not only geographically but emotionally: Yusuf has not kept close contact with his mother. Basically, he's sort of a somnambulist. Nothing much arouses him, though we give him the benefit of the doubt that his stoic demeanor at his mother's funeral really masks deep grief.Hoping to get back to his solitary life as a used book store owner, Yusuf is nonetheless distracted by the vibrant beauty Ayla, who has been caring for his mother the past several years. Despite his dour, uncommunicative ways, things meander forward with Ayla. Deadened by filmmaker Semih Kaplanoglu's drab aesthetic, "Yumurta" seems unlikely to travel beyond the borders of Turkey where, evidently, Turks will appreciate certain nuances. In pacing and vitality, this Directors' Fortnight entrant is almost as listless as its drab lead character. Plaudits to Saadet Askoy for her radiant turn as Ayla; she lights up an otherwise dull and dim drama.

Golden Globe considerations for Takva and Bliss

November 29, 2007 – 61 foreign language films have been qualified for “The 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards” consideration honoring 2007 achievements, it was announced today by Jorge Camara, President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Bliss Turkey
Takva Turkey

Nominations for “The 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards” will be announced at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 13. “The 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards” will take place Sunday, January 13, 2008 at The Beverly Hilton with a live telecast airing on NBC

Silver Caravelle to "YUMURTA"

EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL ESTORIL (Portugal) presented its first edition on 8-17 November 2007

JURY Miquel Barceló |Stéphane Braunschweig |Don DeLillo |Asia Argento |Ruy Duarte De Carvalho

AWARDS:GOLDEN CARAVELLE (30.000 euros)"TUSSENSTAND", Netherlands, Directed by Mijke de Jong
SILVER CARAVELLE (20.000 euros) "YUMURTA", Turkey, Greece, Directed by Semih Kaplanoglu

Competition Films
…A Bude Hur /Petr Nikolaev Czech Republic , 2007, 86’
Actrices /Valeria Bruni Tedeschi France, 2007, 107’
L'Été Indien /Alain Raoust France, 2007, 100’
Garage /Leonard Abrahamson Ireland, 2007, 85’
Gegenüber /Jan Bonny Germany, 2007, 100’
Gruz 200 /Aleksei Balabanov Russia, 2007, 89’
La Linea Recta /José María de Orbe Spain, 2006, 95’
Madonnen /Maria Speth Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, 2007, 125
Nu Te Supara, Dar… /Adina-Elena Pintilie Romania, 2007, 50’
Miehen Työ /Aleksi Salmenperä Finland, 2007, 100’
Yumurta /Semih Kaplanoglu Turkey, Greece, 2007, 97’
Sügisball /Veiko Õunpuu Estonia, 2007, 123’
Le Tueur /Cédric Anger France, 2007, 90’
Tussenstand /Mijke de Jong Netherlands, 2007, 80’

Awards | 3rd International Eurasia Film Festival

3rd International Eurasia Film Festival /Part of 44. Golden Orange FF 2007, Antalya, Turkey

Best Film "The Band's Visit" (Bikur Ha-tizmoret) Dir: Eran Kolirin
Best Director Abdellatatif Kechiche "The Secret of the Grain" (La Graine et le Mulet)
Critics' Award "Under the Bombs" (Sous les Bombes)
Netpac Award Two ex-aequo awards: "Egg" (Yumurta) and "Under the Bombs" (Sous Les Bombes"
International Eurasia Film Festival Script Development Award
50 Reasons All In Her Eyes Scriptwriter: Cem Akas

Awards | 44th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival

44th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Feature Film Competition Awards
Best Film "EGG" (Yumurta) Dir: Semih Kaplanoglu
Digiturk Behlül Dal Award for the Best Newcomer
Saadet Isil Aksoy (Actress) "EGG" (Yumurta)
Avni Tolunay Yurici Kargo Jury Special Recognition
"EDGE OF HEAVEN" (YASAMİN KİYİSİNDA / AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE)
Best Director Fatih Akin "EDGE OF HEAVEN" (YASAMİN KİYİSİNDA / AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE)
Best Actor Murat Han "BLISS" (MUTLULUK)
Best Actress Ozgu Namal "BLISS" (MUTLULUK)
Best Supporting Actor Tuncel Kurtiz "EDGE OF HEAVEN" (YASAMİN KİYİSİNDA / AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE)
Best Supporting Actress Nursel Kose "EDGE OF HEAVEN" (YASAMİN KİYİSİNDA / AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE)
Best Script "EGG" (Yumurta) Dir: Semih Kaplanoglu – Orcun Koksal
Best Cinematography Özgür Eken "EGG" (Yumurta)
Best Editing Andrew Bird "EDGE OF HEAVEN" (YASAMİN KİYİSİNDA / AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE)
Best Art Director Naz Erayda "EGG" (Yumurta)
Best Music Zulfu Livaneli "Bliss" (Mutluluk)
Best Sound Design Orcun Korluca "Bliss" (Mutluluk)
Best Special Effects No award given
Best Costume Design Naz Erayda "EGG" (Yumurta)
Best Make-Up & Hair Design Songül İbrahim, Suzan Kardeş "Fog and the Night" (Sis ve Gece)
Best Laboratory Safak Studios "Fog and the Night" (Sis ve Gece)

44th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Short Film Competition
Best Short Film "Welcome to Baby" (Hosgeldin Bebek)

44th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Documentary Film Competition
Best Documentary Award No award given

Inaugural 2007 Lux Prize to Fatih Akin's Film

Hans-Gert Pottering (r) giving the Lux prize to Hanna Schygulla and Klaus Maek, producer of Fatih Akin's "Auf des anderen seite". The new prize, the Prix LUX, was picked directly by the 785 elected members of the European Parliament in Brussels. The Parliament will then pay to subtitle and produce prints of the winning film in all 23 of the E.U.'s official languages.

Three films were contending for the first edition of the European Parliament's "Prix LUX" film prize, which wasawarded on 24 October during the October plenary session in Strasbourg. This prize - created by the European Parliament Bureau in 2006 and with which the Culture and Education Committee is closely associated - is awarded in recognition of films illustrating the values and diversity of European cultures or which inform debate on ideas about building Europe. Thre three films in contention for the 2007 prize were shown from 1 to 18 October at the European Parliament in Brussels.

They were:
-Auf der anderen Seite, by Fatih Akin (The Edge of Heaven)
-4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile, by Cristian Mungiu (4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days)
-Belle toujours, by Manoel di Oliveira

All three were chosen, according to an E.U. spokesman, for their role in "illuminating the public debate on European integration." The politics are evident in Mungiu's drama, which follows two desperate women trying to arrange an illegal abortion amid the terror of the Chauchesku dictatorship. Or in Akin's multifaceted drama, which traces the lives of six people caught between the culture and politics that divide Turkey from Europe. There is less obvious politics in Oliveira's drama which is an update, 38 years later, of Luis Bunuel's erotic masterpiece "Belle de jour" (1967).

REES-465 | Selected Articles (PDF)

NEW ...Film Notes 1-12
ALL 12 NOTES PREPARED FOR REES-465

Plus Modern/Postmodern Philosophy and Film Theory
(click to download 11x17 chart in PDF)

PDF File 1
On Film narrative and Narrative meaning / George Wilson
Notes on Spectator Emotion and Ideological Film Criticism /Carl Plantinga
PDF File 2
The Matrix of Visual Culture/ Patricia Pisters
Chapter 6 (de)Terrorialising Forces of the Sound Machine
PDF File 3
Questions of Genre/ Steve Neale
Towards a Third Cinema/ Fernando Solanas and Octavio Gettino
PDF File 4
Deleuze’s Toolbox and Glossary to Cinema 1 and Cinema 2
PDF File 5
Remapping World Cinema / Identitiy, culture and politics in film
Towards a positive definition of World Cinema/Lucia Nagip
Consuming 'Bollywood' in the global age: the stange case of 'unfine' world cinema/Kushik Bhaumik
PDF File 6
The Real Gaze: Film Theory after Lacan
Introduction Todd McGowan

Young Turks of German Cinema

Young Turks of German Cinema (Download Power Point presentation) as presented at Goethe Institute in Washington DC

REES-465 | 7 PILLARS OF FILM WISDOM

NEW ...Film Notes 1-12

ALL 12 NOTES PREPARED FOR REES-465
Plus

Modern/Postmodern Philosophy and Film Theory
(click to download 11x17 chart in PDF)

Click on the image to download the latest PDF of the information chart
and
Click to get a PDF of Turkish Cinema History 1897-2006

The Ten Best Turkish Films of All Time (2003 Poll)

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY REES-465
I LOST IT AT A TURKISH MOVIE

LECTURE (David Cuthell) WED 4:15-6:05 ICC 205B
SCREENING (Erju Ackman) TUE 6:15-8:15PM ICC 118

Takva nominated for European discovery award

Takva nominated for European discovery award

The director of Turkish movie "Takva", Ozer Kiziltan was nominated as a candidate for "European Discovery " award which is presented to promising directors within the scope of European Film Awards.

Jury members chose 4 among 63 movies for the nomination.

Other nominees are Eran Kolirin's "Bikur Ha-Tizmoret/The Band's Visit" (Israel), Anton Corbijn's "Control" (Britain) and Jan Bonny's "Gegenbe/Counterparts" (Germany).

1,800 members of European Film Academy will watch the movies and cast their votes on December 1st, 2007 in Berlin.

The Ten Best Turkish Films of All Time

"The Ten Best Turkish Films of All Time," selected by a poll organized among professionals of cinema by Ankara Cinema Association.
World Premire Karlovy Vary Film Festival/July 2004
Ten Best Turkish Film | Yol (1982)
Ten Best Turkish Film | Hope (1970)
Ten Best Turkish Film | Dry Summer (1964)
Ten Best Turkish Film | Herd (1979)
Ten Best Turkish Film | Mr. Muhsin (1987)
Ten Best Turkish Film | Innocence/Masumiyet(1997)
Ten Best Turkish Film | Bride (1973)
Ten Best Turkish Film | The Girl with the Red Scarf (1977)
Ten Best Turkish Film | Motherland Hotel (1986)
Ten Best Turkish Film | Distant/Uzak (2003)

Manaki Brothers | The birth of Ottoman Cinematography

Manaki Brothers | The birth of Ottoman Cinematography

Review | Screamers by Peter Debruge

Screamers | (Documentary -- U.K.) A Maya Releasing release of a BBC Television and the Raffy Manoukian Charity presentation of a MG2 Prods. production in association with Isis Prods. U.K. Produced by Nick de Grunwald, Tim Swain, Peter McAlevey, Carla Garapedian. Directed by Carla Garapedian.

With: Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, John Dolmayan, Samantha Power, Stepan Haytayan, Maritza Ohanesian, Peter Galbraith, Salih Booker, Sibel Edmonds, Dennis Hastert.

By PETER DEBRUGE
'Screamers'
System of a Down lead singer Serj Tankian and his grandfather, Stepan Haytayan, reflect on their Armenian heritage in 'Screamers.'
What does metal band System of a Down have to do with the mass extermination of Armenians in 1915? Descended from survivors of the so-called "Armenian genocide," band members teamed with Armenian-American filmmaker Carla Garapedian and partner Peter McAlevey to make "Screamers," a soapbox doc that intercuts concert footage with talking heads and scenes of horrifying human atrocity. But a noble cause does not a good movie make. Pic repeatedly drowns its impassioned message with music, creating an awkward hybrid between history lesson and concert doc that will be a tough sell to either aud.

If the recent Dixie Chicks study "Shut Up & Sing" demonstrates how quickly the public can turn on artists for being politically outspoken, "Screamers" counters with a more optimistic view: System of a Down's fans actually expect a level of political activism from the band, who have made it their personal cause to spread awareness of the "ethnic cleansing" Hitler reportedly used as his model for the Holocaust. To this day, Turkey denies the "historical intrigue" of the deportations and massacres as a lie, prosecuting critics for denigrating "Turkishness," while U.S. and U.K. politicians resist officially recognizing the Armenian genocide.

With his Weird Al hair and King Tut goatee, lead singer Serj Tankian proves most eloquent on the subject. Docu shows Tankian reflecting on his heritage, both on the road and in conversation with his disabled grandfather, who shares stories of the long marches he endured as a child.

Pic's most surprising revelation concerns the extent to which System of a Down use their celebrity to draw attention to the issue (many of their songs address the subject directly), even going so far as to broadcast related news footage during their concerts and giving classroom lectures on the subject.

And yet, the movie scrambles the message. Every few minutes, just as the interview footage begins to gather momentum, another heavy-metal song rumbles to life, and Garapedian and editor Bill Yahraus whisk auds away again to an arena where goth kids are worshipping at the band's feet.

On one hand, System of a Down specifically wants the world to acknowledge the eradication of more than a million Armenians as "genocide," a semantic distinction that might pave the way to reparations. But pic doesn't define the term until 50 minutes in, and no sooner does it explain the "G word's" potential -- "If it's 'genocide,' then you have to do something about it" -- than it offers the counter-example: "The Bush administration seemed to think if they called it 'genocide,' then they were doing something."

"Screamers" begins to lose focus as montages take on the many calamities of the past century at once. Photos of forlorn Armenians and skin-and-bones corpses certainly turn the stomach, but pic's slideshow-of-horrors strategy blends them with images of the Holocaust and mass killings in Rwanda, Sarajevo, Srebenica and Darfur, making it tricky to distinguish one mass grave from another.

The effect, much like the band's music, is one of shock and rage. Instead of communicating the facts in an organized and effective way, the film embodies an emotional response to the atrocities. The band and crew seem to be venting their frustration, but auds seeking a provocative intellectual discourse would be better served by Atom Egoyan's "Ararat."

Most of the interviews with relevant politicians and activists take place primarily on park benches and noisy city streets, which gives the film a disorganized and almost impulsive feel, while fighter-jet clips and other anti-violence inserts have a way of upstaging the rocking concert footage.


Camera (color, HD), Charles Rose; editor, Bill Yahraus; music, Jeff Atmajian; music supervisor, Liz Gallacher; supervising sound editor, Vince Tennant; associate producers, Ara Sarafian, Eleanor Thomas. Reviewed on DVD, Los Angeles, Dec. 4, 2006. (In AFI Film Festival.) Running time: 91 MIN.

Review | Dol: The Valley of Tambourines by Derek Elley

Dol: The Valley of Tambourines |Dol |(France - Germany)
A NovoCine (in France)/Mitosfilm (in Germany) release of an HS Prods. (France)/Mitosfilm (Germany) production. (International sales: Mitosfilm, Berlin.) Produced by Hiner Saleem. Directed, written by Hiner Saleem.

With: Nazmi Kirik, Belcim Bilgin, Omer Ciaw Sin, Rojin Ulker, Tarik Akreyi, Ciwan Haco, Abdullah Keskin, Sipel Dogu Lesar Erdogan, Ayten Soykok, Sivan Selim, Taha Xelil, Bahman Haci, Sabr Abdurrahman.

By DEREK ELLEY
Iraqi-Kurdish director Hiner Saleem ("Kilometer Zero," "Vodka Lemon") doesn't have anything fresh to say in "Dol," another dramatic reverie on the plight of his people that is strictly fest fare for Middle East specialists. Shorn of the irony that enlivened his previous pics, drama-free item simply shuffles a group of characters who symbolize political and ethnic positions around a mountainous landscape where Turkey, Iraq and Iran meet.

During a wedding ceremony between Azad (Nazmi Kirik) and Nazenin (Sipel Dogu Lesar Erdogan) in the rocky village of Balliova (pop. 8,200), a fight breaks out after provocation by the Turkish military. Azad flees in a truck to Iraqi Kurdistan and meets various characters in the fluid society, where everyone from separatists to drug runners co-exist. There's Ceto (Abdullah Keskin), a Kurd from Paris visiting his family; Jekaf (Rojin Ulker), kidnapped as a teen by Iraqi soldiers; and the beautiful Taman (Belcim Bilgin), who intros Azad to guerrillas fighting the Iranian government. Dialogue is utilitarian ("Here our land is free. It's a new era for Kurdistan"), lensing of the scrubby landscape impressive in a static way. "Dol" is Kurdish for both "drums" and "valley."

Camera (color), Andreas Sinanos; editors, Dora Mantzoros, Bonita Papastathi; music, Ozgur Akgul, Mehmet Erdem, Vedat Yildirim; art director, Saman Sabunci; costumes, Belcim Bilgin. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Forum), Dec. 12, 2007. Original Kurdish title: Dol. Kurdish, Turkish dialogue. Running time: 87 MIN.

Review | Bliss by Derek Elley

Bliss | Mutluluk (Turkey-Greece)
By DEREK ELLEY

An ANS presentation of an ANS Prods. (Turkey)/Highway Prods. (Greece) production. (International sales: ANS, Istanbul.) Produced by Abdullah Oguz. Co-producer, George Lykiardopoulos. Directed by Abdullah Oguz. Screenplay, Kubilay Tuncer, Elif Ayan, Oguz, based on the novel by Zulfu Livaneli.

With: Talat Bulut, Ozgu Namal, Murat Han, Mustafa Avkiran, Emin Gursoy, Sebnem Kostem, Meral Cetinkaya, Erol Babaoglu, Alpay Atalan, Idil Yener, Lena Leyla Basak, Kubilay Tuncer, Ali Zeytin, Ugur Izgi, Lale Mansur, Emel Goksu.

Traditional and modern mores in contempo Turkey cross paths in the strikingly lensed "Bliss," an upscale meller with shades of "Knife in the Water." Formulaic yarn about a disgraced Anatolian girl, her putative killer and an Istanbul sociology prof who find themselves cruising the Sea of Marmara in his luxury yacht is given dramatic heft by good perfs -- especially by actress du jour Ozgu Namal -- and careful direction by producer-helmer Abdullah Oguz. Given the international stature of composer-writer Zulfu Livaneli's original novel, accessible pic could even sail into limited theatrical ports as well as festival berths.

In the barren landscape of eastern Turkey, the unconscious body of 17-year-old Meryem (Namal) is brought back to the house of her father, Tahsin (Emin Gursoy), and harridan stepmother, Done (Sebnem Kostem). Meryem won't talk about what happened, but her family feels shamed by what they believe to be her compliant loss of chastity.

Ali Riza Amca (Mustafa Avkiran), Tahsin's cousin and the village's local bigshot, decrees she should pay for her "crime" according to ancient custom. He orders his son, Cemal (Murat Han), fresh out of military service, to take Meryem to Istanbul and quietly dispose of her en route. Meryem herself thinks she's being taken to meet Yakup (Erol Babaoglu), another of Ali Riza's sons, for an arranged marriage.

On the way, Cemal can't bring himself to bump off Meryem and, in Istanbul, is given a tongue-lashing by Yakup, who long ago broke free of the village and its crazy customs. But Cemal can't return until the job is done.

At this half-hour point, pic cuts to a wealthy Istanbul couple, Irfan (Talat Bulut) and Aysel (Lale Mansur), whose marriage has clearly stalled. In a development that the script doesn't prepare viewers for, Irfan just walks out of their snazzy home, leaving a note that he needs "a chance to breathe."

As Cemal and Meryem hide out at a remote fish farm, they cross paths with Irfan on his yacht. After joining him on his cruise, Meryem finds herself caught between the two men's growing affections for her, while, unknown to all, Ali Reza's men are hot on her trail.

Livaneli's original novel has been stripped of much of its political subtext and some of the two men's backgrounding, and the character of Meryem has been placed centerstage. But as a quality mainstream movie, it still works, thanks in no small part to Namal's sly perf as a browbeaten country lass who's still capable of humor and tenderness.

Thesp works well against Han's Cemal, a conflicted ex-army type given to sudden explosions of masculine prowess, and vet Bulut's sophisticated, avuncular Irfan. Director Oguz marbles the film with several lighter moments before the admirably brief climax and coda back in Anatolia, which is surprisingly moving.

Production values are tops, with eye-watering lensing by Bosnian d.p. Mirsad Herovic of locations in Marmara, Bodrum and Anatolia. Music by Livaneli himself adds further professional color.

Camera (color), Mirsad Herovic; editors, Levent Celebi, Oguz; music, Livaneli; art director, Tolunay Turkoz; sound (Dolby Digital), Konstantinos Kittou. Reviewed at Istanbul Film Festival (national competition), April 12, 2007. Running time: 128 MIN.

Review | Stolen Eyes (Otkradnati Ochi ) by Jay Weissberg

Stolen Eyes| Otkradnati Ochi
(Bulgaria-Turkey) A Gala Film (Bulgaria)/Yaka DDE Film (Turkey) production. (International sales: Gala, Sofia.) Produced by Galya Toneva, Kiril Kirilov, Atilla Yucer, Kerem Altug. Directed by Radoslav Spassov. Screenplay, Spassov, Neri Terzieva, based on an idea by Terzieva.

With: Valeri Yordanov, Vessela Kazakova, Nejat Isler, Itzhak Finzi, Iliana Kitanova, Stoyan Aleksiev, Maria Kavardjikova, Deyan Donkov, Anani Yavashev, Veliko Stoyanov, Nikolai Urumov, Vesselin Rankov, Rangel Vulchanov.
(Bulgarian, Turkish dialogue)

By JAY WEISSBERG
A black chapter in recent Bulgarian history is explored more with righteous sympathy than real power in "Stolen Eyes," a promising movie that tries to blend too many disparate elements. While ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia was making headlines, Bulgaria's last communist rulers were forcing ethnic Turks to give up their identities. Pic follows a young Muslim widow -- the excellent Vessela Kazakova ("Mila from Mars") -- and the Bulgarian soldier who's smitten with her. Having won best Bulgarian feature award at the Sofia fest, pic could garner some fest exposure, despite its several flaws.

In the late '80s, Bulgarian strongman Todor Zhivkov declared a program of "national regeneration," in which the substantial Turkish minority was forced to change names, forbidden to show outward signs of ethnicity and outlawed from speaking Turkish. Anyone not complying was escorted to the border, which is at first open, then closed by the Turks due to swelling refugee camps. This is where "Stolen Eyes" begins, in 1989, with Aiten (Kazakova) and her brother, Halil (Nejat Isler), waiting to cross into Turkey.

Film then flashes back to soon after the laws have been announced. Young Bulgarian soldier Ivan (Valeri Yordanov) is put in charge of the official seals needed to certify name changes on newly issued identity cards. Aiten, a teacher, pretends to seduce Ivan in order to steal the seals, but he disarms her and in the process becomes fascinated by her courage and conviction.

Determined to continue protesting the government's identity rape, Aiten forcibly reopens a mosque and leads a group of women to block the army from entering the village. Ivan is the reluctant driver of the tank, and tragedy strikes when Aiten's daughter gets lost in the crowd and falls under the tank treads.

Traumatized Ivan is put in an institution, where he obsessively paints Aiten's eyes. She, too, is in the same hospital, but is unwilling to encourage the relationship he desires. After being discharged, Aiten is joined by her brother, and they head for the Turkish border, where the narrative began. But there's still one more stanza of the drama left to play.

Pic is at its best in early scenes showing the profound humiliation of people whose identities are literally effaced from the record. In later reels, director Spassov wastes way too much footage on silly scenes in the psychiatric institution, plus some discordantly light sequences near the end.

Still, performances are faultless. Yordanov, previously seen to advantage in "Emigrants," here shows great sensitivity as the hesitant young soldier whose deep humanity leaves him unshielded from the horrors he's forced to perpetrate. Similarly, Kazakova is both touching and fierce as the defiant woman determined to keep her name and traditions. Better known as a d.p., helmer Spassov shows an eye for artistic compositions, and lensing by Plamen Somov is always attractive.

Camera (color), Plamen Somov; editors, Boyka Popova, Evgenya Tasseva; music, Bozhidar Petkov; production designer, Georgi Todorov; costume designer, Boryana Semerdjieva. Reviewed at Sofia Film Festival (Balkan Screenings), March 11, 2005. Running time: 107 MIN.