Price of Passion

Black and White Love is not an ordinary love story of two young people attracted to each other, walk along the beach holding each other's hands, exchange some silly jokes and kisses and have some intimate scenes to tickle the audience's desires before a villain enters their "utopia" spilling ink and setting fire forcing them to fight back or unnecessarily suffer with lengthy boring cycles of unconvincing reconciliation and separation over hundreds of episodes.

"Siyah Beyaz Ask" is rather a tense and an unusual encounter between two apparently different people who by no means could have been partners otherwise. Having to know each other and to live with each other sparked an inner battle inside each of them with his own mind and feelings, expressed as a battle with one another as well as with others.

Knowing each other was the only way to learn about themselves, their fears, their possibilities and their soles. On their journey towards love they are mainly fighting themselves rather than fighting villains and their love had to get through a lot of questioning, insecurities, sacrifices and crises before being the major and most fixed fact of their lives.

The outline of the characters is finely written (thanks to the two initial writers), yet the main credit goes to the actors and the third (script) writer : Ibrahim Celikkol put too much heart and power into every scene, and whether he is a killer in action, a lover in great despair, an estranged brother, a human being at war with his own feelings or a devastated person in a crisis of fury.. in all these he just acted like nobody. None of his other roles compares to his portrayal of Ferhat Aslan. Most importantly he added new aspects to the main character "Ferhat" both inside and outwards, starting with his vigorous portrayal of Ferhat's silent inner torment and not ending with the major effort he did to add a self-developed vocal tone to match Ferhat's specialised vocabulary and idioms.

Birce had been particularly excellent for the screwball comedy romance scenes as well as for the awakening dialogues when her character "Asli" touched deep into Ferhat's wounds (actually can't imagine any other Turkish actress for these particular types of scenes).

Despite being good-looking, and unlike other well-known Turkish actors, both actors didn't rely much on the way they look (apart from two intruding and unnecessary scenes of Ferhat's body boxing and bathing.) They rather dare appear in an unpleasant look (as when Ferhat tried to impersonate a beast "Çirkin" when he had been looking at himself in the mirror).

The third script writer "Erkan Birgören" did a great job writing sarcastic and powerful dialogues instead of the commonly used romantic dialogues under a starry night's moon or the philosophical conversations about love that no real lover uses. He was a real bonus for the series.

I rarely give a 9-10 but I believe a 9-10 for this series is well earned.

So I chanced upon SBA during quarantine and was compelled to leave a review (my first ever review written on a tv show) Upon reading the raving reviews I decided to give it a shot.

The first 30mins is all it took and I was hooked. I was at the edge of my seat for every episode, literally sleep deprived trying to watch as many episodes as possible. Here's a little analysis of the story and why I love this show.

Firstly, let's give it up for the main leads Birce and Ibrahim (Asli and Fermat) who delivered stellar performance right from the start to the end. Their chemistry was off the charts, nothing like I've seen before. Their story felt true that it plays with your emotions. The intensity of the show was consistent throughout except for some annoying track in Ep 25-28.

Asli - to me the potrayal of Asli's character by far is the best I've seen in any TV Shows. Unlike the common tales we get in soaps, Asli was a strong, or shall I say the most powerful character in the show. She was a successful Doctor, level headed, vocal yet she's also a elegant, demure and a refined woman with beautiful heart who seeks to help anyone in need but would never allow anymore to mistreat her. Despite being forced into marrying a stranger or rather a ruthless Hitman and joining a corrupted family, she wastes no time throwing pity party or playing victim in a fully dysfunctional and toxic family home. On the contrary, she remained strong, determined and extremely tough with her words and actions towards everyone, yet she knows how to show compassion. While she was determined to incarcerate Ferhat and Namik, she realises there's much to life when Ferhat makes her live through painful moments. The scene in episode 4 of Ferhat exposing her BF was beautifully depicted. (One May not be as clean as we perceive, only because he's a white collar and behaves well). In the same episode we see how Ferhat shows her people can turn dark given the circumstances. Along the way, she learns to understand Ferhat for his complex behaviour, understanding his formation during his troubled childhood and showing him the path by being a dominant. What's interesting about Asli is the fact she was taken captive physically, however emotionally she was dominating Ferhat with her words and bold actions. The whole show is associated with Stockholm Syndrome which is somehow true, but Asli is a girl who also came from a dysfunctional family. Her brother being the only family, she quickly understood the love Ferhat had for his family and the pain that was hidden beneath his tough and rough exterior. She eventually falls in love and her longing of Ferhats love was justified given that she had no one left. There was never a dull moment and her character was built well throughout the show, a strong courageous and intelligent woman who deals with every situation under extreme pressure.

Ferhat is a complex character and can easily be associated for being a Narcissistic Sociopath. This is visible in his domineering character , constantly wanting to be in control to feel powerful, giving orders and not trying to understand others . Ferhat is shown to be inconsistent with his behaviour due to his own emotional battle and this is psychologically true in reality . There was many layers to his complex character and eventually it is shown why he is the way he is dark, ruthless and tough.Ferhat is a character that is emotionally challenged and Doesn't know how to express himself owing to his past.

Unlike other Turkish shows, all the supporting casts in SBA was equally phenomenal. All the characters had depth, each had a story, pain and journey where they evolved after Asli's presence at the house challenging status quo. Right from Namik, to the family members including the helpers, everyone had a beautiful role to play in this show. Each and everyone character was good and strong in their respective roles.

All in all, do watch it and be careful because the show will play with your emotions. I had that feeling on hungover for days upon completing it. Watch it for sure!

Siyah beyaz ask (Black and white love) is a story comprising of many genres: crime, drama, romance, tragedy, action and comedy. The show takes audience on a roller coaster of emotions. It is not an ordinary love-hate relationship, the lead couple goes through many ups and downs to find love. The story and direction is perfect. The lead actors are giving phenomenal performances. Audience have fell in love with the characters of Asli and Ferhat. Highly recommended series

This series is very far, far away from being boring like other turkish series. The acting is the best I have ever seen in this kind of series, and the plot is like no other! There is no cliche, the action always surprises you.While watching this series I find myself or with the biggest smile or with tears (of sadness but also happiness). I've watched a good amount of turkish drama-series till now, but I can tell you sincerely,from the bottom of my heart, this is definitely the best I have ever seen! I wait impaciently for every new episode!

This series is the best in Turkish series platform from very long time it have everything you want to watch thriller,action,romance,comedy etc... , i finished 10 episodes in 1 day , cause i couldn't wait to sleep and wake up again to see the next episode , hope you watch , you wont regret it , the cast was chose perfectly , the director is really good , the script is perfect , its a perfect series from all sides .