There are echoes of several classic Hollywood films in Çağan Irmak's UNUTURSAM FIŞILDA (WHISPER IF I FORGET). In a provincial town two sisters Hatice (Farah Zeynep Abdullah) and Hanife (Gözde Çığacı) become enamored of rich boy Tarık (Mehmet Günsür). Tarık falls for Hatice, and the two of them resolve to become professional singers. They elope to İstanbul and find their fortune in the big time by working for major promoter Kemal (Gürkan Uygun). Only Hatice knows that her entire career has been built on deceit; while claiming to have written the lyrics of her hit song herself, she has actually stolen them from her sister, who was something of a talented poet in her younger days.
In its portrayal of stardom and its pitfalls, especially its effect on Hatice (now given the stage-name Ayperi) and Tarık, Irmak's film has strong echoes of A STAR IS BORN. Hatice/ Ayperi proves to be highly strung, while Tarık cannot endure the star's life and eventually turns to drink. Their star status gradually declines, and Ayperi is left financially destitute, forced to return to her sister after many years to seek shelter.
What renders UNUTURSAM FIŞILDA memorable is not the sequences where Ayperi/ Hatice enjoys her star's life, but the sequences set in the present where the older Hatice (Hümeyra) tries to re-establish a relationship with Hanife (Işıl Yücesoy). There is a lot of peace- making to be done: the two sisters have never spoken since Hatice eloped with Tarık, and Hanife seems less than willing to accommodate Hatice, even though Hatice is in the first stages of Alzheimer's. The only indication we have that all will be well is the lighting: most of the action takes place in bright sunlight, creating an edenic world where everything is eventually forgiven.
The ending is unashamedly sentimental, but along the way Irmak has made some trenchant points about the ways in which people's lives are based on falsehood; not just Hatice but Hanife as well. When times are good, no one really wants to acknowledge that uncomfortable fact; it is only when things go wrong that people are forced to face up to themselves as well as reconsider their relationship to others.
The film is a visual treat for nostalgics, especially those old enough to remember Seventies pop and fashion with its garish colors, banal lyrics and artificially tricky camera-work. Definitely worth a look.
