Dondurmam Gaymak

Turkish television and documentary director Yüksel Aksu ("Büyük Yalan" & "Bir Dilim Aşk") calls upon his misspent youth as apprentice to an ice cream salesman to good use for this quirky comedy which won awards at film festivals in Ankara, Istanbul and Queens and took an unappreciated trip to the Academy Awards selection committee.

Independent ice-cream salesman Ali (Turan Özdemir) tours the villages of Muğla Province on Turkey's Aegean coast on his new motorbike touting his wares from a trailer, but when the bike and trailer go missing he blames the big multinationals and goes out to seek revenge unaware that it has in fact been taken by a local gang of mischievous boys.

Local lad made good Turan Özdemir puts in a near hysterically distressed and dishevelled central performance at the head of a cast of non-professionals which includes memorable turns from a long-suffering Gulnihal Demir, youngster İsmetcan Suda and a host of local characters including Nejat Altinsoy, Recep Yener, Metin Yildiz and Arap Fevzi.

The Ankara International Film Festival Most Promising Director awards winning filmmaker has crafted a wonderful piece of whimsical entertainment from his youthful misadventures which, with the assistance of acting coach Mehmet Ali Alabora, is brought to life by a non-professional cast in a mode true to the director's routes as a documentarian.

"A bit of insanity solves everything!"

well, i usually don't like those kind of local movies and the use of amateur actors but "ice cream, i scream" is very real and you can feel the intimacy. The movie talks about universal matters around a very small story and it is very obvious that the director is reflecting his memories not his observations which lets you dive into the life of the city "Mugla" - and Aegean culture. It also deals with capitalism-socialism and the religious matters in a light,funny way. The war of the local ice-cream salesman reminds me the war of "Don Quijote" against the windmills except that they are not imaginary rivals anymore but real,huge firms of capitalism.

This film was made in a small city of Turkey with nearly all non-professional casting but with the great wish and effort of cast and director, now it is too close to be a nominee to Oscar from Turkey in "Best foreign language film of the year" category. We really laughed a lot as watching it. It is about a man who gains money by selling ice-cream. He makes his ice-cream in his own so he is in a war with other ready-made ice-cream companies. One day his ice-cream car is stolen and he thinks that other ice-cream company made it to prevent him from earning money but in fact the situation was not like that and his adventures starts...In my opinion you don't lose time if you watch it.

I'll try not to repeat what others have said. I liked this film, though I am not sure if anyone outside Turkey can like it as much as a Turk or someone familiar with rural Turkish culture. There are several reasons for this: First of all, I made a point of watching the film with English subtitles, and of course, the subtitles were not perfect, but at times they were confusing or too simplistic. Second of all, the juxtaposition of religious beliefs with overtly sexual scenes intended to be funny maybe a commentary on the conflicting identities secular Turks feel and live with, but left me a bit confused. Perhaps this could have been executed a little better and was done very well with the more subtle contradictions (or shall we call them adaptations of everyday life with religious and secular beliefs?) as a previous comment highlighted the men hiding their alcohol upon hearing the call for prayer. Several things to note: Baba Zula did the music for the film (the original songs), which I really liked. The drink of choice in the film is raki (ouzo) and anise-based alcohol that becomes cloudy white when diluted with water, therefore often referred to as "lion's milk" in Turkey (for Turkish men suppose they are like lions? But, of course!) As for things I really did not like in the film: I felt that ALL women in the film were screaming bitches! Mothers to their sons, wives to their husbands... The screaming was, I guess, meant to be funny and at times the driving force behind our hero's misery, but my experience with Turkish women in places like Mugla is far from what is portrayed here. Of course, the film does not have to be realistic, but I found this aspect to be very annoying. And the things I really liked: The location is beautiful. I would like to see more and more films made somewhere other than Istanbul. Mugla is such a beautiful setting. Beautiful mosque (classic blue/white tile embellishments), beautiful beaches, the winding roads, the river... Made me homesick (for a moment...) Also, the inclusion of two characters in the film, the corn-on-the-cob salesman and the newspaper-man (who is physically challenged) on the beach was interesting, if not, again, a part of the layered commentary on the socio-economic aspects of life in Turkey. Will there be a sequel about a salep salesman?!

"Dondurmam Gaymak is a local movie, having a universal content." A favorite description of the movie "Ice Cream, I Scream" made by the Turkish media, and it's true. The movie is filmed using, almost an entirely nonprofessional cast and natural locations. People living in Mugla helped the crew at their best, by supplying food, drink, transportation and accommodation. Also a native of the filming location, director Yuksel Aksu, wanted to put the warmth, life style and energy contained in the hearts of Aegian people of Turkey...

But underneath it all, there lies an important aim. The director explains that, he tried to behave like Italian Neorealists, using nonprofessional actors. He also films a realistic life in Mugla. The religious education, respect to older people, naive residents, political restrictions, somehow funny devotion to religion (they stop drinking alcohol when an ezan (call to prayer) begins then continues after it finishes)... All these are presented in a way that, the director doesn't try to point out something exactly, but he just show what's there, and leaves the rest to the viewer.

The production is not bad, actor-ship is quite acceptable (very intense and funny sometimes), flow of the story is well balanced (from thrilling scenes, to dramatic or really funny ones). The already-lost-war against capitalism is unbelievably fresh. It's living characters really warm the scene and I can be sure that any Turkish viewer would have a great time watching it. Although there are some mistakes with sound production or a very quick reveal in the peak scene.

It should be noted that, this movie was chosen to represent Turkey in Oscars. It was chosen among movies from directors such as Zeki Demirkubuz, Nuri Bilge Ceylan or Reha Erdem or a movie like Babam ve Oglum which was highly successful at box-office. It's a choice i can support 100%. Because, maybe not as artistically competent as the others, "Dondurmam Gaymak" is completely Turkish, yet universal at a reasonable level. A must see for 2006...