Bir Başkadır - Acht Menschen in Istanbul

Turkish cinema has produced 2 phenomenal work of art in last decade. First one, Persona (2018), which was the rebirth, silver lining of the long dead performance arts, and Ethos showed us that Persona was just a beginning for a lot to come.

As a Greek I can relate to both modern and traditional aspects of contemporary Turkey. It was not much different here 60-70 years ago. But I couldn't expect to be confronted with such a magnetising masterpiece that I couldn't let off, watching all 8 episodes in one go. The actors are brilliant without exception, camera is partially silently shocking, images captured are impregnated in a spectator's head, the story will bring tears to your eyes but most important: not one character is good or bad. They are all both good and bad, making them exceptionally human.

So, who is this director? Who are these actors? Why can't we have more from them?

I never expected to see a Turkish tv series like this in my life. As an Arab, I've seen nothing Turkish but soap operas, and that had a role in my perception of Turkish production.

First of all, I watched the trailer in the day it was released 12/11/20 and I thought it was a movie, nonetheless, its style grabbed me, so I decided to watch it. After I watched the first episode I was shocked because of it, all I can say about that episode is one word, perfect. The first episode sat the bar high for me, and after I finished the series I wanted to write few things about it. I loved its style, the direction was perfect, you can notice the influence of Wes Anderson in it, which is a good thing, and not only in the direction, but in all other aspects, including writing, cinematography, the wide scene which then turns into a closeup through quick zoom, and the style of comedy. Speaking of comedy, this series has a lot of it, and better than comedy, it has a smart comedy, the one that makes you laugh just by the settings of the scene or by the clumsy behaviour of the characters which always felt real, or even when some characters meet other characters you cant help but laugh. There are a lot of stories, and through these stories you get to know a lot about modern Turkey and the Turkish society, and each story had a reason to exist. The colours were so beautiful, it's probably the most beautiful series I've ever seen and one of the most beautiful works, this was because of the spectacular cinematography and production design, and because of the selection of the music. As for acting, every actor did his job in the best way possible, so, I wouldn't want to talk about a certain actor or actress and leave the rest; because they're all perfect, I who is an actor-wannabe will always look up to their work in this art of work and take them as role models. This is the thing about this series, there is a company that's willing to produce such art, and creative creators and actors who are all talented and hardworking in their job, and the result was a masterpiece. I hope I said everything that I have in my heart for this series. I wish to see more from the whole team. Thank you for this masterpiece.

I'm not turkish but I visited several times, the show explains a lot of the contrast in lifestyle and culture present in Turkey. I love that the writing is not biased against any of the social levels and the scenario is very natural and sincere The cinematography, music and acting is excellet. I think personally a lot of international audience can relate to the story as alot of communities have the same polarisation within that feels like the fabric of the society is no longer consistent. Its the same here in Egypt and Middle East in general. We are exposed to same socio-economic and political unbalance, so its no surprise we reach the same outcomes. I can't wait for more episodes to be released! Please keep up the good work.

This is probably the best series shot in Turkey since Masum. Acting is just on point, Öykü Karayel particularly nailed the role and her accent. But what I appreciate the most is the director's artistic style and vision. It's a realistic, captivating story with amazing cinematography and solid soundtrack.

By the way, I can't believe there are actually people who criticize this show because "there's lack of diversity". Sorry for being realistic? At least do some research on the country's demographics before claiming such thing. This point of view is no different than casting a black actor for Zeus on Troy. You can't be seriously expecting all countries to make shows according to the diversity in America. The world is bigger than that, you know.