Gönül Yarasi

I saw this film at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and of the 35 films I saw there I might rank this as high as #3. I normally have a 90-120 minute time frame as ideal for films and coming in at 138 minutes I thought it may run a little too long but this movie was so good that I now want to see the the others that director Tugul has done and would definitely look forward to seeing more in the future. Meltem Cumbal is excellent in the lead actress role and Sener Sen is so believable in his role and really establishes himself as the centrist character of the film. I felt there could have been a little more development of the son and daughter to Nazim but I loved the character of the owner of Nazim's taxi. Loved the scene with the Kurdish musicians and was happy it included them doing a complete song and not just a brief shot of them on stage. I give this film an 8.5 and would recommend it.

I think the movie is a masterpiece.Turkey's best actor Sener Sen acts wonderfully from beginning to the end and when the movie ends you thank him for the job he made.The movie is about a teacher working in east part of Turkey for several years and got used to life there.When he comes back to the place he was born it would be hard for him to get used to life again.He becomes to work as a taxi driver and meets a singer then his life would never be the same again.Wonderful scenario,actors filled into the roles perfectly,dramatic story and a different ending.I recommend this movie to everyone.Sener Sen is the rising star of Turkey and soon he should be rewarded with an award.

I haven't seen many Turkish films, but this was great. The acting of Sen and Cumbul were impressive. A definite contender for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars of 2006. Anyone with intelligence and pluck should see this movie. Could win an award also at Cannes BAFTA , probably not at SAG. However its really good. Could help EU prospects of Turkey, for Europeans to see the culture in such powerful films. I have seen a few other films of Cumbul and Sen after this movie. The Turkish film called Propaganda was very impressive as well, nothing of coarse compared to this movie but still very impressive. This movie on the whole is quite dark, one has to honest. The other third protagonist of the film, dint know his name was also good, though his acting is overshadowed by the other two.

Gonul Yarasi is an above average movie in the tradition of classical Turkish drama. Idealist elementary school teacher Nazim (named after the great communist poet Nazim Hikmet) retires and returns home, Istanbul, after a 15 year term in the poor, forgotten Kurdish-Alevite village in Eastern Turkey. Politely ignored by his children who secretly despise him since he chose his ideal over his family long ago, he begins a new (night)life as a taxi driver. There he meets a fallen single mother who works as a "singer" in a sleazy night club. He takes the mother and her daugther in to protect them from the stalker ex-husband, falls in love with her, and the drama unfolds.

Yavuz Turgul, a master of storytelling, is not at his best, and the film cannot surpass his former masterpieces such as 'Eskiya' or 'Golge Oyunu' - though the movie is among the best of the season. Sener Sen, Meltem Cumbul and Guven Kirac give solid performances, but Timucin Esen proves outstanding with his portrayal of the multi-faceted, psychologically unstable ex-husband. The film, in the Yavuz Turgul tradition, inevitably ends with the tragedy-redemption-hope sequence.

Turgul likes to give subliminal social and political messages in his movies, but he is less subtle in this one.

Although it is an extreme drama and few such situations may exist, I bet there can be found such cases. And having that reality is the most dramatic part of the movie. Together with the performances of the experienced actors and actresses I think this film deserves an 8 or 9, if to consider it is not perfect.

There are some imperfections though, especially the full-moon scene, for a person who has been in Istanbul.

I should add that personally I liked this one more than "Eskiya", not only because of the important social and political messages in this movie, which gives a serious mood to the film, but also that the roles of the actors are distributed most suitably.