120

While surfing on the internet about this movie, I read and was pleasantly impressed by the great heroic story this is, and without any hesitation dressed myself to immediately go to see the movie.

This is a true story around WW I during 1914, when the Turkish (Ottoman) army runs out of ammunition and the village of Van decide to send their 120 young boys, aged 12 to 17 years, carry ammunition to the border. On their way to the border – they are attacked, and on the way back, they face the snow hail and bitter cold that results in the death of 98 of them.

The cinematography is superb, spell binding and enthrallingly spectacular. The music is also good. The fineness in quality of movie making is of top international standards. Ozge Ozberk as Munire and Cansel Elcin as Suleyman are good. Burak Sergen as Sermet is excellent.

There are a few points in the movie that do not help to make the movie reach its potential. They are – the narration is slow, and by incidents of action or killing or death, look too deliberate, rather than merging in the flow and remaining stubtle. The biggest flaw is the casting – all the main characters look too refined to fit into the times and village of Van. They stand out of the picture frame as sore thumbs and not merge in the same canvass – especially in group shots with the locales rural inhabitants. They look too urbanized and director should have taken care of this small but important aspect. The second flaw is the dubbing of dialogues – that is too loud and flat – like on stage drama.

But the film is less about 120 boys, and more about the times, the village, the family, the politics, the war and love. The so-director and the writer Ozhan Eren tries to brings about every possible element of interest that can appeal to Turkish cinema and people, and I think that is where the movie does not deliver fully. The elements of showing Turkish flag to evoke patriotism are too obvious and reminds of 60s and 70s movies.

If only the movie had captured the actual heroism of the boys enduring and their relentless emotional saga of survival, it would had been a much satisfying attempt.

Still I hope that this movie remains as one of the teaching lessons for our people to remember and be proud of. This is a very heroic and tragic story and we are so happy that it is told; a piece of pride for Turkish history.

(Stars 5.25 out of 10)

During these events, Armenian gangs in many places did such terrible things to their neighbors' children, women, elderly people, and even their animals that it is impossible to show it in the movie. If the actions of these gangs were shown in the movie, it would be a horror movie that you cannot even imagine. But one sad thing about the movie is that it has not been shown properly even in Turkey. These terrible events that came between people who lived together for hundreds of years have happened in many places and at different times. But they were never propagandized in Turkey like they were in Armenia or Greece. Many more people should see this movie.

This film is a drama, and quite worthy of my 9-star rating. It's quite deserving of ten stars, but I think that if there was focus on the lives of some of the particular boys, it would have toppled many Academy Award films. But to focus on a few would most likely take away the true sacrifice of the many.

Nevertheless, the acting was excellent. It's a story of patriotism and sage topped off with a dose of emotional reality. Once I got past the tears, I managed to applaud this feature. All I can say is that the viewer will not be disappointed by this historical tale of a true heroic journey of '120'.

The directing and the location photography were outstanding. I applaud the crew.

The Armenian organizations in Australia attempted to stop the screening of this movie in local cinemas without success. This indicated to me that the film was worth seeing.

We went to see 120 on a sunny Sunday afternoon together with several family friends. Although we tried hard to hold back tears during the screening, we were nevertheless struck with the tender presentation of a bitter episode in Turkish history.

"Munire" is a well known and deeply admired young actress in Turkey. Her performance adds great deal of warmth to the otherwise sobering and equally desperate struggle. Unfortunately, I found that the players were not given sufficient time to exhibit their full potentials. The plot was somewhat rushed and climactic moments were not well emphasized. Period atmosphere, superb music and excellent cinematography tend to alleviate many of these shortcomings however make-up and reproduction of local dialects fall far short of a commendable standard.

Makers of this genre need to review and digest the productions of the rival camp before embarking upon such ambitious projects. Having said that, one should also bear in mind that Turks have to refrain from making Armenian style propaganda films which only help create friction and reinforce communal hatred. I believe viewers would like to see the historical facts made palatable with a small romantic story as was done in 120.

Of course, one impediment towards creating a "Doctor Zhivago" standard movie is money. Turkish film makers have to find the necessary financial support in order to be able to create world class productions. This is not too hard to do in this day and age…. they only need to follow the examples of their Armenian and Greek counterparts.

One last suggestion is to convince the producers that the copies to be shown overseas need to be dubbed into English or German – depending on where the films is screened – with Turkish subtitles. These films need to be tailored to attract Turkish youth abroad and the local population in foreign countries. Turkiye is on the back foot after 80 years of intense Armenian lobbying and the only way to reverse this trend is to show "the other side of the coin" to the world community.

The movies impressively shows what is sacrifice in Turkish history. Since I have cried during the movie and still crying I can not write no more than this. But some Turks should learn some lessons from the movie. Independence came with its price and this should be respected. We should honor what these 120 kids and other Heroes of the Independence war had done. If those kids would have seen what they had fought for, they should be proud but not regret. Also I think the movie included some objective comments on both sides of the war. I agree that actors could have devoted themselves more into their roles but still the movies reached its goal.