Ho visto il sole

I stumbled upon this movie while searching for something to watch on YouTube. I didn't know what it was about and I don't know much about the war the movie dwells on. However, I soon pushed the pause button and read up quickly on the conflict. The story tells of families caught up.in the conflict between guerilla. & government forces and had to be evacuated from their homeland. A family moved to Istanbul and the other to Norway as refugees. The anguish, difficulties, sadness, adjustments and hope they faced are well portrayed and will stay with the viewer for a long time. Acting is really good. The scenery and.breathtaking locations are a bonus. Amongst the challenges of a new life the families try to make, the movie also touches on cultures, taboos and sensitive issues. I think they were covered pretty well with no exaggeration or drama. Recommended watch.

There is no war in a city here, it's during unrest let's call it. If you are not familiar with the situation Turkey and the Kurds are having, you want to read up on that. It's not necessary to understand the movie/follow the story. It might be interesting to have this as a backdrop though to refer back to.

It's about a family in troubled times as you can imagine. One that has not only to face outside danger, but also has quite some turmoil inside the family. Feelings get hurt, but there is also violence especially with a thinking that may seem very backwards to a lot of people. Sometimes that is used for comedy (when it comes to technology or the "wonders" they achieve) but this is mostly a drama, with high stakes for every one involved. It's not easy to chew on and there are quite a few bumps along the road, still this has the right ingredients, it just needed a bit of a better direction and less confusion in parts

How the movie started, you expect a war movie. But it was not more then the reason for the consequences what could occur. Everything what could occur, only just one family suffered very much, at the cost of the trustworthiness. Leaving your homeland concerned all families and all other consequences were forced. Although this is not a political movie stones were thrown to politicians.

The casting was almost the same like in other films where Kurdish people are involved. Sometimes it is boring. In this movie the great actors were under their level. No facial emotions only physical presence. But shouting women were touching.

The name of the movie has been also explained. A minor issue cannot carry the title, it is misleading not because of director's creativity but the story is not set right. Who lives in Turkey knows a lot about this subject. This knowledge will fill in when it is not right. The intention will be understood.

Further, technical things are in conformity with standards.

I watched the movie yesterday and thought on it for a while. Let me share my humble opinion on some aspects of the movie. The story was crafted to make it as tragic as possible by putting problems of people who were forced to migrate in the focus and spicing it with social adaptation. While trying to point some problems like terror and the social pressure, the choices were too far from each other. If the story was focusing only on the migrating family, it could have been much better. The gay issue didn't fit the whole movie at all and it looks like a patch trying to gain sympathy. So, for the plot, it is over exaggerated tragedy. Acting is good, especially the main characters did a pretty good job. I am afraid, I can't be that positive for the directing and technical aspects. The fighting scene was very clumsy. Overall camera usage was pathetic. This movie is an Oscar candidate by now. I don't think it has the slightest chance. Although the movie is quite good in some aspects, it is far far away from being a classic or what so ever...

Popular Turkish arabesque singer-songwriter turned actor-director Mahsun Kırmızıgül ("The White Angel") followed this sceptically received freshman melodrama with this equally sceptically received sophomore melodrama which topped the Turkish box office and took an unappreciated trip to the Academy Awards selection committee.

Davut (Altan Erkekli) and Ramo (Mahsun Kırmızıgül) head two wings of an extended Kurdish family forced from their village by the conflict in Turkey's south-eastern region with one resettling in Istanbul and the other attempting to illegally enter Norway as the driving force of this epic melodrama of interwoven story lines.

Mahsun Kırmızıgül remains true to his arabesque roots with a demagogic central performance whilst more stoic support comes from veteran character actor Altan Erkekli ("O... Çocuklari" & "Waiting for Heaven"), stunning starlet Demet Evgar ("Shattered Soul" & "Banyo") and Yeşilçam award-winning up-and-comer Cemal Toktaş ("Black Dogs Barking").

The emerging director still suffers from the excess of sentimentality that lead his debut film to box-office success and critical drubbing but here he has a wealth of story lines worthy of his didactic style as his cardboard characters espouse messages of tolerance to a sweeping musical score that even the most cynical can't help but be moved by.

"You rarely ever see the sun here."