When the news leaves you a ’Lonely Man’
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Oluşturulma Tarihi: Kasım 27, 2008 00:00
On occasion, editorials must veer from the dominant issues of the day. They should examine context-providing diversions, such as a new film. This is particularly the case when the news requires no commentary.
What can be said, for example, about a justice minister who publicly proposes a quid pro quo for a convicted terrorist? The offensiveness in the mere suggestion is inherent.Â
So new European Union regulations will impose basic manners on Turkey. And the prime minister thinks it is nice that the opposition leader seeks political participation by women wearing headscarves. What commentary could possibly elevate policy and politics conducted as such base levels?
So go see a movie to escape the banality of the day’s news. Some of us did Tuesday night, dropping in on the new "Issız Adam," or "Lonely Man," by Turkish director Cağan Irmak.
The tear-jerker plot line of love found and lost may be as old as the Holy Book(s)’ Adam and Eve. But the film weaves that universal tale with the texture of cultural strains reaching back into the 1970’s and 1980’s, in particular the forlorn music of now-forgotten Nil Burak. It is also marches forward, looking at today’s Turkey with a realism toward which the "realists" of journalism and politics are too often blind.
The basics narrative is that of a girl from Bursa and a boy from Tarsus, both successful in their careers, working out their sexual compatibility amid the complexities of unwed cohabitation. They do so beneath the approving eyes of a headscarfed mother. This is not a story one finds along the simplistic "black Turk" vs. "white Turk" continuum of so much analysis.
Much of the dialogue in this newly premiered movie, particularly that of the character "Ada" played by Melis Birkan, is as fine a commentary as you will find on the state of the feminist condition in Turkey. And if any sociologist can do a better job than Irmak’s character "Alper," played by Cemal Hünal, of bringing to light the demons that stalk the Turkish male psyche at a time of great role transformation... well, we have yet to see it.
That this new film comes from the director of "Babam ve Oğlum" or "My Father My Son," the award-bedecked 2006 exploration of the ways in which the political trauma of the 1970's was endured with dignity by an extended Turkish family, tells us something about the rising cultural potency of Turkey. If you are reading this editorial, we can assume you seek to understand Turkey. On most days, it may be enough to follow the extraordinary pace of political, economic and social dynamism in our or others’ newspapers. But sometimes you have to walk away from the news to actually understand it.
If you feel as such, as we did Tuesday night, you can do no better than "Issız Adam."
So new European Union regulations will impose basic manners on Turkey. And the prime minister thinks it is nice that the opposition leader seeks political participation by women wearing headscarves. What commentary could possibly elevate policy and politics conducted as such base levels?
So go see a movie to escape the banality of the day’s news. Some of us did Tuesday night, dropping in on the new "Issız Adam," or "Lonely Man," by Turkish director Cağan Irmak.
The tear-jerker plot line of love found and lost may be as old as the Holy Book(s)’ Adam and Eve. But the film weaves that universal tale with the texture of cultural strains reaching back into the 1970’s and 1980’s, in particular the forlorn music of now-forgotten Nil Burak. It is also marches forward, looking at today’s Turkey with a realism toward which the "realists" of journalism and politics are too often blind.
The basics narrative is that of a girl from Bursa and a boy from Tarsus, both successful in their careers, working out their sexual compatibility amid the complexities of unwed cohabitation. They do so beneath the approving eyes of a headscarfed mother. This is not a story one finds along the simplistic "black Turk" vs. "white Turk" continuum of so much analysis.
Much of the dialogue in this newly premiered movie, particularly that of the character "Ada" played by Melis Birkan, is as fine a commentary as you will find on the state of the feminist condition in Turkey. And if any sociologist can do a better job than Irmak’s character "Alper," played by Cemal Hünal, of bringing to light the demons that stalk the Turkish male psyche at a time of great role transformation... well, we have yet to see it.
That this new film comes from the director of "Babam ve Oğlum" or "My Father My Son," the award-bedecked 2006 exploration of the ways in which the political trauma of the 1970's was endured with dignity by an extended Turkish family, tells us something about the rising cultural potency of Turkey. If you are reading this editorial, we can assume you seek to understand Turkey. On most days, it may be enough to follow the extraordinary pace of political, economic and social dynamism in our or others’ newspapers. But sometimes you have to walk away from the news to actually understand it.
If you feel as such, as we did Tuesday night, you can do no better than "Issız Adam."