Ho visto il sole

I lived in Turkey when Mahsun Kirmizigul was a folk(arabesk) singer then I moved away...

I'm a rock/hip hop woman, I never paid much attention to him; always thought his kind of music was "beneath me". How elitist, how inconsiderate of me!

I moved back to Turkey 2 months ago from US and I watched "Gunesi Gordum" today...

Mahsun Kirmizigul won my respect, my admiration today...

Gunesi Gordum is an amazing movie. Every scene in the movie, every actor is spot on. It touches extremely sensitive subjects in Turkey and comes out a winner.

This movie makes you cry for the terrorists' family AND for the soldier that died defending his country. A son is a son. That's what this movie shows you without politicizing it.

It makes you see the pain of the homophobic brother facing the transvestite brother.

It makes you see how "privileged" you are while a big part of your country / world is just trying to HOLD ON....

Thank you Mahsun for this movie. I really hope you get the recognition you deserve.

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...

Mahsun Kirmizigul was a good singer. Why did he decide to become a director?

But this movie is the best of its career. His other movies are all alike, but I liked the plot and process of this movie.

The link between war, development and poverty is unequivocally demonstrated in this Turkish movie about the long standing Kurdish insurgency in the country's eastern provinces. Most people just wish to get on with their lives and have no time for nationalisms or 'isms' of other sorts. Indeed, ask the transvestite character in the film, and it's clear most of us have many of our own problems without taking on the burdens of others onto our own shoulders.

Nonetheless, humans cannot be divorced from the realities around them. Hence, the individual who joins a political movement infused with the idealism of youth. Pitted against him is his brother who believes in the power and strength of the state to deliver services, e.g. education and healthcare. As these two fight, innocent farmers and shepherds who happen to live in villages in the battleground suffer.

To suffer means economic destruction and even death.

This is the story of one such family caught up in Turkey's Kurdish insurgency. Simultaneously, the movie reveals the conservative and male dominated nature of rural Turkish society.

It's a sad movie - prepared to shed tears. But 'I Saw the Sun' is a social statement which provides powerful insights for any student of Turkish society. The movie provides few answers but forces us to ask the right questions.

A must watch for anyone interested in Turkish society.

In Turkish with English subtitles.