New York'ta Bes Minare

Let's face it. Whenever there is an overt pre-screening hype surrounding a Turkish movie which will possibly get a box-office success we either idolize the movie or we just anathematize it. As of today, out of the 1644 voters here on IMDb 921 voters (56.0%) rated this movie '10'. Guess which number of rating has the best percentage after ten? '1'. When a careful devotee of motion pictures rummages through reviews on the net, he/she will notice that those who love the movie do not (maybe can't) really expatiate on why they just loved the movie, and those who hate the movie turn their review into a blatant personality thing about Mahsun Kırmızıgül. At this point,alas, it goes without saying that Turkish voters again made IMDb lose its objectivity and genuineness.Many foreign IMDb followers do already know that Turkish voters have already manipulated votes for many Turkish movies (as in "The Breath" and Valley of the Wolves.)I guess this is the perfect example of an expression that I caught from a friend :'masturbatory nationalism' Let me write about the movie and clarify what I exactly mean.Five Minarets in New York takes its name from a well-known folk song in Turkish. Though the the name of the movie actually does not have much to do with the title,there are actually five historical mosques in the city of Bitlis which is located in eastern Turkey (mostly populated by Kurds and it is the director's hometown actually.)Potential leader of a radical Islamic terror organization, Deccal (Antichrist) against whom Interpol issued a red notice has been taken into custody in USA. Since he has not committed any crime in US land he is supposed to be handed over to the Turkish authorities. Two successful anti-terror Turkish policemen Fırat (Mahsun Kırmızgül) and Acar (Mustafa Sandal) have been charged with fetching the convict.In the beginning of the movie, when I saw the anti-terror armed clash,awe-inspiring dhikr scenes made by the religious sect that that police infiltrated I have to admit that I was impressed. Then the two police officers flew to USA and met the agent Becker (Robert Patrick)the first thing that the detective Acar asks 'You have been to Iraq for the oil or for the freedom of Iraqi people?' reveals the immutable nature of another Kırmızgül movie: 'didactics'. This is third movie that has received enough box-office success and I thought he would give up on preaching his message in such an overt way. Kırmızıgül may have good intentions but he should just stop turning his movies into a sort of 'message mania'. This,so to speak,insults the intellects of Turkish cineastes. The man whom the two Turkish detectives are supposed to fetch Haji (Haluk Bilginer- The Turk (Ahmet Sunay) of the movie 'The International') sounds like a peaceful Muslim leader who opposes violence and tries to show the tolerant face of Islam but I suppose the movie-makers mistake tolerance for insubstantiality and lightness. When you mistake tolerance for political correctness, you just run the risk of becoming untruthful. Haji's wife Maria (Gina Gershon) is a Christian and Haji is perfectly OK with that because he thinks all roads lead to Allah. Islamic point of view on interfaith marriage is clear;A Muslim who weds a non-Muslim woman cannot adopt the religion of his spouse. In case he does, the non-Muslim risks apostasy.She is supposed to convert to the Islam. Haji repeatedly quotes Rumi but let's not forget even Rumi's Christian wife changed her religion to marry him. What else? Haji does not mind his daughter's living with her fiancé out of wedlock but an American agent enters a mosque with his shoes on that's sheer blasphemy-is it-? Especially if he is an agent who lost his brother in the debris of Twin Towers? Tant mieux for the preaching cut-and-dried art of cinema-making! The veteran actor Haluk Bilginer has always been brilliant on the screen and there is no doubt that his performance is laudable again but the character he plays,Haji is not really an inspirational one. He quotes Rumi (and some other Islamic scholars) but he does not really say anything new, not anything that any Muslim layman doesn't know about. Our guy is a terrorist at one moment, later on he is someone whom everyone calls 'the best man I've ever known'.Perforce or by intention this is really awkward for a movie in which there is no character arc. Plus, dialogs are quite poor in the movie. For instance, when Haji was taken into custody to be interrogated, his longtime friend Marcus (Danny Glover) says "But they are making a big mistake. I have known him for thirty years" like that does count in his legal favor. To cut a long story short, I did go to this movie by setting aside any unfairly prejudicial views or any preconceived publicity and unfortunately I realized that Kırmızgül did not give up on his 'message mania'. He even turned this into a habit. I know he has had good intentions and I hope such intentions will give better movies to the Turkish film industry. I do sincerely hope that the box office success he has had with three movies won't lead him to make more movies like this. Otherwise Turkish movies will continue to get screenings only in those countries where Turkish Gastarbeiter live(like Belgium,Germany and Austria.) For now, the news that this movie will get screenings in 120 countries is no more than a dream while the internationally acclaimed Avatar got screenings in less than 90 countries.One last note for the real movie aficionados : If you want to see the tolerant face of Islam, if you want to see that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism, keep in mind there are way better movies out there like Bab'Aziz, Le Grand Voyage and My Name's Khan. 18/11/2010

NEW TORK'TA BES MINARE starts off in familiar fashion, as two Turkish cops travel to New York in pursuit of an alleged terrorist from Turkey who has been living in New York for thirty-seven years. There they encounter a group of FBI agents with innate prejudices against foreigners, and Muslims in particular. The two cops are drawn into a complex world, presided over by Islamic convert Danny Glover, where they seem apparently powerful to act. As the film unfolds, however, so the story becomes more complex. Hadji (Haluk Bilginer), ostensibly the prime suspect in the case - whose capture the Turkish cops are entrusted with - turns out to be completely different from what we, as the audience, expect of him. Director Mahsun Kirmizigul's film turns out to be a meditation on extremism, irrespective of religious difference: some Americans, as well as Turks, seem incapable of adopting either a moderate or a tolerant point of view. The film has a surprise ending, where we discover the true reason why Hadji went to America, and what kind of a person he actually was. Both noble yet self-aware, he remains a figure to admire in a complex world. NEW YORK'TA BES MINARE is an unexpectedly complex work, tautly filmed and grippingly told.

Despite a few clichés, the movie is not, first of all, a predictable one. It starts like any other Hollywood picture, with secret agents and the most fresh subject: Muslim and terrorism. But further more we find that it is about religion, about the fact that there is only one God. We find that the fundamentalist's of Islam are not tolerated by the Islam itself. We can see a dialog between a fundamentalist priest and a true one, despite the fact that they are dressed in ... white and black, suppose a lack of inspiration. We find that the destiny is inevitably. We find that there is love and forgiveness in both - in all of religions.

This movie spared all effort to put into perspective the authority pursuit of terrorists across the Atlantic. It successfully depicts that despite the claim that war against terrorism is not war against Islam, when vengeance underscore motivation, vindication transcends borders of respects. For a movie, it was well directed, well acted, and the presentation quite successfully moved the audience to experience the multitude of human emotions that filled and colored the characters portrayed in the movie. All in all, this movie is a gem that will give the audience an alternative scenario and perspective in the fight against terrorism, especially given the the theater is filled to the brim with the Hollywood version of anti-terrorism, that are often distorted and certainly one-sided.

This movie attempted to put into light the true Islam, albeit there are fundamental differences to what some may argue as to the 'truer' teachings of Islam would otherwise preach, as opposed to the more secular and somewhat liberated Islam as Turkey is practicing. While the attempt is commendable, the less informed audience may presume this is true of Islam. Case in point, Turkey is about the only country that accepts Muslims marrying Christian. But the well spoken message that a terrorist is automatically a non-Muslim, deserves an applaud.

Needless, this movie is not about teaching. And for the entertainment value, this movie is an outright winner.

I have to say I strongly disagree with Mz Haneke, This is a solid - almost - Hollywood quality action movie bringing up the Islamofoby issue which was probably orchestrated by certain policy makers to create a terrorist enemy that they could use whenever they need one. Story's good, most of the actors acted well, the scenery and the action scenes were very well shot indeed. The terrorist groups looked terrifying to us Muslims as much as they would to Non-Muslims and I believe what is told in the movie really touches to the reality. I watched it as I watched an episode of "24" and I'd like to congratulate all the people involved in the shooting of this film. And please... the multimillion dollar movie "The Expendables" -although I like every actor in that movie very much - were more a disappointment for me for it's storyline and acting. If that was a blockbuster, "Five Minarets in New York" is no less. And yes, I'm not a movie-critic, just a movie-goer but I do have a taste in films, I rarely admire much. Nice work!