Bihter: A Forbidden Passion

It was like watching a group of kids performing a stage play.

Actors are very known and good ones but everything about this movie is a dissapointment. I thought this was going to be an original adaptation of the great novel by Halit Ziya Usakligil which also has a great place in Turkish literature. However, this is not quite as an adaptation, but a freak show. The characters are portayed very shallow and superficial, despite the fact that they're actually not. The internal conflicts and true emotions of the characters are completely ignored. Especially the character of Bihter is portrayed very poorly.

I don't recommend it AT ALL. For those who are actually interested in the story, I recommend you to watch the TV series for a modern adaptation, or the 70s movie adaptation for an original one.

The movie has a big disadvantage to start with because of the very loved series adaptation from 2008. I think most people would still embrace a new adaptation for this famous book if this movie didn't turn out to be this hideous. The good things are costumes and decor and everything else is sort of a mess. The self narration is very unnecessary and is a concentration killer. Cast is not horrible but also not great but acting is very mediocre but I also think that the actors are not to blame for this. The script is weird, a lot happens so fast and there is no correlation between events and no emotion passes from the screen because of that. Bihter is not Bihter by the way she an overly playfull woman where originally she should be this cold distant woman. I think this could have been great if this was worked as a period drama even with this cast. I think manking this movie was waste of money and watching it was a waste of energy.

Knowing the 2 previous films/series and the performances, this one feels like a high school theatre. Characters hardly fit the role, mimics and acting skills are below average. The only fit is the time zone. May be it was too early to shoot the same movie where the previous one which was a great success is just one decade away. Bihter talking with the audience also takes away the seriousness. The acting is really poor. In summary, it was a great time loss despite all the expectations and PR. Now, we understand that Kivanc and Beren and all tge rest of the cast created a masterpiece 10 years ago.

"Forbidden love" is a famous book written by Halid Ziya Usakligil. The book has many adaptation for cinema and tv. The most influencial adaptation was made as a tv series in 2008 and this movie (Forbidden love 2023) will be mainly compared with this series. When we consider the huge influence of Forbidden love 2008, it is almost impossible to criticize the movie without comparing it with the series. It is fair to say that Forbidden love 2008 is a beter adaptation of the book. Especially, the performance of the actors were worse. Even if we ignore the 2008 tv series, I dont think that none of actors performed a satisfactory performance except Farah Zeynep Abdullah. However, although she made a satisfactory performance unlike her collegues, she still could not reach the level of beren saat(Bihter in 2008 adaptation). As a resul, it is difficult to argue that the movie fulfills the expectations and satisfy its audience.

As a crazed fan of the TV show, I watched this film with the lowest expectations, clear of any prejudice.

Sadly, the story telling and the need to tell the whole thing in a less-than-two-hours movie certainly was a poor choice, especially with Bihter constantly breaking the fourth wall (well, during the entire movie, almost) cheapens it all. I don't even mention the lack of detail in terms of the correct portrayal of the era, but I saw it as a conscious choice for the movie to look pleasant to internatinal viewers, rather than being factual.

Probably the only 'average' thing I could mention is cinematography. The rest is so sloppy, it was a total waste of my time. Plus, casting the very youthful Hande Ataizi for the role of Firdevs is just beyond my comprehension.