I am not usually the type to become invested in Turkish soap-opera, but this one surprisingly stood out. I started watching it on a local channel three years ago, but they soon cut the series off so I had to stream it. After 120 hours of investment in Azize and Cevdet's adventures, I believe I'm ready to give my two cents about it.
Cevdet and Azize are two halves of the same protagonist and the backbone of this show. No matter how much fate can tear them apart, they are always there for each other and display what love really is about. They may criticize each other, fight, even divorce out of necessity, but their mutual trust never fades and is reflected in their eyes with every dialogue. Absolutely no unnecessary sex and cringe modern-display-of-emotion scenes appear in this show; instead, Halit and Berguzar, being a real-life married couple, pour all of their real-life shared emotion on screen.
Cevdet is such a colorful and a brilliantly portrayed male lead. He possesses outstanding emotional strength when it comes to hiding his double-agent identity and yet he can be so vulnerable when Azize is around. His morals are unbreakable and keep on coflicting throughout the show which makes him very relatable and manages to keep the show interesting throughout its long run. I enjoy watching him display the traditional heroic traits like courage and persistence as well as the grief and despair in times of chaos.
When Cevdet cries, I cry. And I enjoy seeing that kind of raw emotion on screen; it is a rare sight indeed these days. Even more so when Azize comes to lift him up from the grave. Vatanim sensin, or "You Are My Homeland", is rightfully the title of the series.
After being constantly bombarded with themes of feminism from the mainstream entertainment providers, I was astounded how graciously Turkish writers managed to portray the strength of women in this show while simultaneously immersing them in their traditional roles. The primary example of this is Azize, the ultimate mother and the ideal wife of our hero Cevdet. Her motherly love towards everyone around her never stands in the way of protecting her family; it is really intriguing to observe how those two principles clash when her double-agent husband comes into play. She can be very decisive and proud when fighting for homeland as well as modest and humble when bearing sacrifices for her loved ones.
One of the first things that caught my attention in this series is the costumography and ambience in general. The framerate of the show doesn't seem to be the usual 60fps which gives it a slightly nicer movie-like feel than that of usual soap-operas. I don't know whether the show is historically accurate, but I surely bought it; it feels nice to be at least slightly informed about what was happening in modern-day Turkey inbetween the two world wars.
I could write on and on about Leon, Hilal, Yildiz, Yakup, Dagistanli and Tevfik, but I don't have that much time. Every character brings something unique to the show and the common theme of patriotism is very nicely outlined and cherished within each one of them. If you do have the time to devote yourself to 120 hours of love, hate, war and friendship, I warmly recommend you try this series.
