Hababam Sinifi

When you watch Hababam Sinifi you can not get yourself out from feeling the good old high school ages that you have had. It has lots of school moments that we have all shared which we sometimes still remember and wish that we could still turn back the time and live those years again and again.

The movie keeps us remembering the whole funny situations that we were in, during those years; various ways of cheating exams, running out of class with kinds of funny excuses just to go and watch the final matches, smoking in the toilets during the break-time and so on... Of course the movie gives great lessons against these behaivors with the help of one character which lead the whole "Hababam Sinifi" series. Mahmut Hodja. His moral values and commitment to his students had us all get wet eyes during this comedy. But of course not only him, the whole cast had his own different character profiles. Body Ekrem (which was played by "The Extraoridnary" Sener Sen), Inek Saban, Guduk Necmi, Hafize Ana etc. But of course non of these characters could come to life without the great observations of the fabulous director, Ertem Egilmez (may he rest in peace). During his entire directing career he always made his movies like a mirror holding through the audience and had them to watch themselves in the movies and I can say that Hababam Sinifi is one of his greatest works. Speaking for myself, I must admit that this is my favorite movie of all time and even the movie is played on TV a million times, I never get bored seeing it again and again. I guess none of you would either...

This classic Turkish film (although some might wonder at this mainstream movie being called a film) is etched permanently into the psyche of Turkish culture. It's such a shame that there's no kind of film preservation society in Turkey. No One realizes that this film is going to disappear within the next decade or two. If I'm ever successful I've made a promise to my childhood that I'll find a good print of this film and put efforts forward to restore it and preserve it in various formats so that my kids and their kids can one day see it.

This is a great comedy but obviously a typical American won't laugh as much as a Turkish person. Kemal Sunal and his classmates play it in the same tradition like Jerry Lewis and Charlie Chaplin. I showed the movie to an American friend, and with some translation, he laughed and enjoyed it, too. So, it is normal for Turks to give it a 10 rating, and non-turks to give a 7.3, and the difference is due to something lost in the translation! The other thing is, the Turks don't laugh at actually what the characters are saying, but HOW they are saying... The facial expressions, the accent, body language.. all contribute... So you have to live for a while in Turkey to fully appreciate this movie...

"Hababam" is a never-aging movie. I just watched it again last night (I don't remember how many times I watched it!) and I was on my knees, laughing with tears in my eyes. Sener Sen, Munir Ozkul, Adile Nasit, Kemal Sunal (Only Ozkul and Sen alive today) are among the greatest comedians in Turkish cinema and watching them in the same movie is undescribable joy! Movie's passing into a sadder region makes the onlooker feel that this is life itself. Before recovering a laugh coma the onlooker enters a sad valley. The original score is a great helper in these transitions. Composer Melih Kibar created one of his best works for Hababam Sinifi.

To sum up, Hababam Sinifi is like a drug when you feel gloomy, blue, sad. You can cheer up within minutes if you sit and watch it.

I think this movie must be translated in all languages on the world. Fabulous comedy from the great director of Turkish cinema. Many of excellent actors are also together in this movie. It is the film which is seen by all Turkish people at least once. This great comedy must be seen by all people in the world. It is even better than all other films in the world which is launched as comedy. There are jokes on all scenes of the movie. Especially, one of the main character's of the movie Kemal Sunal has a great performance. You cannot make anything other then laugh, laugh and laugh. Watch and be full of fun. It is directed in 1975.