O Caminho

I had no experience with Turkish or any Middle Eastern cinema before seeing this, and it made me want to see more films from this part of the world. It is essentially a travelogue with completely separate stories of several men and their encounters in various parts of Turkey during temporary furlough from a government prison. For example, one of these men is a Kurd, and another wants to take possession of his wife who disgraced him by having an affair while he was away in prison. All of these story lines remain completely separate throughout the film, and it is in this peculiar structure (different from an American movie like "Magnolia", where the stories interconnect in some way) where the film's greatest strength and weakness lie. The strength is that this is a great way for a Westerner like myself to get a good overall introduction to several aspects of Turkish society. The weakness is that the first half of the film is exceedingly difficult to follow; we never get a chance to know any of these characters, because the director constantly cuts from one storyline to the next, which caused me great confusion.

Despite the flaws, directors Goren and Guney display a true film-making talent here. This is one of the harshest movies I have ever seen, on a par with other films like "Pixote" in its unflinching brutality. These two directors have portrayed 1980s Turkey under a military dictatorship as a true hell on earth - a society stuck in the Middle Ages and obsessed with rigid, archaic, sometimes brutal Islamic customs.

With its muckraking tone, I doubt this film has ever been shown in even a comparatively free Arab country. I also imagine this will be a particularly difficult film to watch for women, as the traditional Islamic punishment for female infidelity is presented quite graphically. There are several agonizing scenes that remain frozen in my mind - especially one in which one of these prisoners must journey on foot with his wife and son through an isolated arctic wasteland. It is in scenes like this during the second half where the movie becomes truly involving. These scenes are so exceptional that it made me disappointed that this film wasn't better than it is; it had the real potential to be a masterpiece, but took too many amateurish missteps. Luckily, the missteps were not for lack of ambition.

Five prisoners are given permission to visit their homes, and they get on their ways. Once out, we discover that we all live in a big prison, on endless roads which start and seem not to end. All roads end. Eventually. Absolutely harsh, touching, fierce, itching and scratching, disturbing movie about reality. A must see for those who have their own cliché definitons of how a "road movie" must be like.

Yol has a very special place in Turkish cinema.It is a masterpiece in my opinion.What makes Yol different from other Turkish films.The most important reason is that it comes from its own culture.It doesn't try to imitate American films or some others.It has its own way.This is really very important in building a film.When Turkish directors catch this point like Yýlmaz Güney I believe very good Turkish films will exist in the future.

This excellent movie shows how people in their life are the prisoner of their situation. The live in a world and society that expects them things to do and behave, and the do and behave as expected, even if they don't feel happy with it, or hurts them. They have to. This is a lesson for myself, and life as I experience it. Yhis is dramatically illustrated in the movie in the scene in which the husband is forcing his wife to go with him through the mountains, through the snow. Which has a bad ending. I remember this scene even more than 20 years after I saw it ever. This 'being prisoner of your situation' is not specific for the Turkish or any culture. I think it is typical for humans in general. Look around and you will see.

The artistry of this movie is astonishing in virtually every aspect of its filmmaking. What makes that all the more remarkable is that the footage was all shot by the assistant director in Turkey then taken to Switzerland for Yilmaz Güney (a brilliant writer/director who had to leave Turkey to escape persecution and imprisonment, mostly because of his empathy for the plight of the Kurdish people under Turkish rule) to edit and dub. The cinematography is colorful, rich and varied. The musical sound track is beautiful and well-integrated. The various subplots seem to echo and build on each other. Somehow, while making the grim realities of modern Turkey all too evident, this film also left me with a feeling of the indomitability of those who struggle for freedom.