Asmali Konak

I have not been able to watch every series of this Turkish TV serial. But once I started watching it, I took an immediate liking to it. It is different from those Korean-made soap operas like 'winter sonata' or 'summer scent'. It describes life and experiences of a prominent family in a small Turkish town, its success and failures, and relations with people from outside.When I was watching it, I had a kind of deja vi feeling, I felt like once I have been a part of it. It feels so close to me, I don't know, maybe this is because I am Turkic (Uzbek) myself. Anyway, most people in Uzbekistan could not go away from TV-screens when it was on.

Cappadoccia is beautiful. With the director's choice of filters and everything it becomes even more beautiful on screen. The main character of the well-directed episodes are inevitably the land itself I think. However; it would not be so fair to neglect the director's effort here because Istanbul and NYC parts are also nice. The choice of places, especially where Istanbul is being filmed, is well-made.

About the characters; I might say that they are real. The story itself has some (well quite several) extremes that can be seen as gifts of trying to attract the audience but the characters are surprisingly well-thought, well-formed and well-incarnated thanks to the writers and the actors. The kitchen gang and the against-all-the-feudalism loves are my favorites. The story sometimes touches the regional problems of Turkey as well as the universal problems of human nature. In my opinion, it could have been done in a better way (I actually think that it's a bit over-rated in Turkey but what isn't?); but there "always" is a better way; so as a person who knows Turkish TV, this series deserves appreciation.

(The ending which is completed by the movie called "Asmali Konak - Hayat" is still much of a cliché though.)

I think Asmali Konak is Turkey's best tv-series ever made. I haven't watched it from the beginning and now I am watching from the replays and I really appreciate all the people who made this series. I became an addict of this series very fast. The last episode will be on theaters this fall.

Asmalý Konak, can be described as a Turkish life isolated from all other Turkish lives, which is set in one of the magical places of Turkey Kapadokya(Capadoccia). Seymen is the classic, handsome, affective Anatolian man, successfully acted by Özcan Deniz. Bahar is an art student in New York when they first meet. Bahar has eyes as green as the greenest trees of forests and she doesn't rely on many people, especially men. But when they see each other in a New York cafe, they know that their love will confront all the obstacles waiting them in the future.. Turkish people, very faithfully, even set their activities according to the times of Asmalý Konak, so they wouldn't miss a moment of love and passion(well sometimes the opposite)actually of Seymen and Bahar=).

Besides this amazing love, many messages are given to Asmalý Konak watchers; some about women, some about love and some about Turkey.

Seymen's family members all have their problems of their own which is told sometimes in ironic or sarcastic ways. They live in a big stone Capadoccian house called "konak" (sorry ý don't know how to describe it but its really wonderful which is one of the factors why the series is so magical :)) Asmalý Konak-the movie-is designed to be the last episode of the series came to the cinemas. Although it was supposed to be better, the cinema-goers were a bit disappointed, ý thought it was very good, though not as good as the series. Thanks to Çaðan Irmak, he's a great director, always making us,Turkish people happy with every work he does..

I have never seen a Turkish TV series before and I turned on from series 8 by accident one night and started from there. I did miss out a few but plan to buy the whole DVD set later to watch again. As an Asian and living in the Netherlands, the Dutch sub-titles helped me to understand the culture of the Turkish people. The characters of the actors and actresses are very interesting and everyone acted so well, including the little children. Even the bad guys have those ugly look which made them looked great in their acting parts. The most handsome man, Seymen and his attractive wife, Bahar added lots of spices to the main theme. However, one has to admire the character of Dicle as well -- she acted so well and I like her good and smart character. Then there are also the gossipers in the characters and they all added some sugar and spice in the scene. I would give a very good rating for this TV series as 8.9 out of 10. I hope to see more of the Turkish movie on TV as well. A pity that I have to stay many nights watching Asmali Konak and then have to adjust my sleeping hours from early morning till noon -- making my sleep shorter as I have to work. Luckily I am self-employed otherwise it would be impossible to for me to discover this entertaining Turkish TV series. Congratulations to the whole team for the making such a successful and most entertaining movie. I have come to learn that Turkey is a beautiful country and that the people are different from the Turkish culture. To me, they are very beautiful people and so different from those other Muslim countries. Turkey is a modern Muslim country with lots of beauty around it. Someday I hope to visit Turkey for a holiday and hope to stay at the Hayat Hotel. It will surely bring lots of happy memory of the TV series Asmali Konak!