Kurtulus

This show reveals the meaningful sides of the Turkish national sovereignity ideal. The Turks fighted against for their independence. The British, Greek, French and some other nations invaded Turkish lands. However, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the great Turk, was a genuis commander and a leader. He and his soldier friends changed the flow of 21st century history. The Turkish people owe a lot to this struggle. We will always remember them. Nothing justifies the war, but independence and sovereignity of a nation. This was the struggle of Turkish sovereignity. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said "Peace at home, peace in the world".

Kurtulus is the 6-episode (6x1 hour) TV series telling the story of the Turkish War of Liberation (It also has a shortened film version, but its no good). It covers a 4 year time period starting from the Allied invasion of the Ottoman Empire following the First World War up to the Victory of the Turkish Nationalist Movement in Ankara against the invading Greek army in Western Anatolia.

With a record size budget, an army of actors and extras (literally, with whole divisions of the Turkish Army), and an unprecedented nation-wide production effort, Kurtulus stands alone as the biggest project in the history of Turkish cinema/TV. Almost every serious actor in the country plays a part, big or small.

The director, Ziya Oztan, does a good job integrating drama with documentary, and the series can satisfy the fans of both.

The "Kurtulus" (Eng. "Liberation") is the greatest production in Turkish film industry. TRT (Turkish Radio Television Institution), state TV corporation, produced this mini series - or TV movie - with the greatest actors and actresses working in the Turkey's greatest theater companies. Despite Rutkay Aziz (as Mustafa Kemal Pasa), Savas Dincel (as Ismet Pasa), Ayda Aksel (as Halide Edip Hanim), T.P. McKenna (as Lloyd George) and Mahmut Cevher (as Fevzi Pasa) are the leading acting team, the remainder of the cast are doubtless "magnificient" for their realistic acts.

The story begins with the end of Inonu Battle II. England's use of Greece and its people as a war machine is showed from an objective perspective. Turkey's marvelous persistence not to be defeated, while the Greek army approached to Ankara for just 30 miles, is reflecting the character of a nation which starts the destruction of the Britain's Imperialist foreign policy. War scenes, soldiers' map talks and political games in Turkish interior and exterior politics are quite realistic and non-boring.

The cinematography, direction, objectiveness, costumes, art direction and great music compositions are the key elements other than the wonderful cast.

It is a pity that the whole film is in Turkish and is just watched by the Turkish audiences. I just want to make my Greek friends to watch this film. Because, the film itself is just compound of the naked truth of the era. The film emphasizes on the humanist officers in both Turkish & Greek armies. Especially, the conversation between Gen. Trikoupis and Mustafa Kemal Pasa is almost a friend talk in military traditions.

Lloyd George, P.M. of the Great Britain, summarizes the film in the end: "The centuries rarely produce a genius. It is our bad luck that the great genius of our era was granted to the Turkish nation." referring to Mustafa Kemal Pasa.

The film is great. The acts are great. The message of the film is great.

This is all great. 10/10

Turkish people were deprived of food and nearly evertthing at that time, but they succeeded in the end despite their verious enemies. Therefore, this serial is a kind of very inspiring and motivating documentary.

As a Turkish woman I remind myself our ancestors' achievements whenever I am in trouble. I tell myself "think like Atatürk or what would Atatürk do under the same conditions?" This help me to be calm and hopeful, find solutions and fulfill my goals.

Atatürk's not having a father is also terrible but inspiring at the same time. You know some fathers support their children a lot. I mean their children are successful because of their fathers' connections. Atatürk showed us that even "an orphan" can be a world leader. You should definitely watch "Kurtulus" serial or if you don't have a lot of time you can watch Kurtulus movie.

Kurtulus is unprecedentedly the most successful production of Turkish film history. If one asks what makes a movie successful, it can be said, the 4 most important features that determine the quality of a film are scenario, casting, director and music. Kurtulus combines all of these features admirably at a very high quality.

The most important point, when it is wanted to make a film about Turkish War of Independence is to find an excellently suitable actor for the Atatürk role. If a costume drama fails that, other factors cannot be enough to do the film good. In Kurtulus, Rutkay Aziz made an amazing job in Atatürk role and according to most of the viewers, he was the best choice for this job.

The scenario was written by Turgut Özakman, who was originally a scenarist and knows the history of the era the film depicts, better than most of the academic historians. Secondly, as the director, Ziya Öztan had the chance to work with a paramount casting, consists of the most successful actors and actresses of Turkey. It can be said, it is not easy to find a good actor, this film excludes in its time. Additionally, in this film, resemblance of some actors to real historical characters is incredible. The best examples are: Nurettin Pasha, Llyod George and Winston Churchill. Thirdly, the music producer Muammer Sun did an amazing job and produced first class music pieces for this film, which are very effective to get the audience.

As the most successful costume drama, which depicts the era of Turkish War of Independence, Kurtulus has not an equivalent match for its time. This great production is an output of a non profit seeking state association and by this means, a lot of advantages of it were used. Probably the most important one is, using of thousands of real time military personnel to shoot battle scenes.

The film treats the historical events objectively and it is a great tool to have a comprehensive understanding of the era. From the steppes of Ankara to green hills of British prime minister's residence, the history is shown from multiple perspectives. In a short time of six episodes, the film is depicting all important aspects of the time in a concentrated manner.

It is recommended for everybody to watch this masterpiece, who are willing to learn about the time and have fun.