Issiz Adam

Popular Turkish television writer-director Çağan Irmak best known for his series "Çemberimde Gül Oya" and "Asmalı Konak", proved his popular appeal with this particularly modern take on the somewhat overdone Rom-Com genre that has a peculiarly Turkish bent which makes it well worth seeking out for anyone who wants an insight into that country's attitudes to love and sex.

Cemal Hunal certainly looks the part of a romantic lead as Alper and is not without his charms but the character he plays is so thoroughly repellent that it is impossible to cheer for him as he attempt to woo the feisty Melis Birkan as Ada, who one can't help but feel should have known better, under the kindly gaze of the brilliant but underutilised Yildiz Kültür as Alper's mother.

The filmmakers through in a fair few laughs, normally at Alpers expense, but these mostly relate to his degenerate sexual escapades and do nothing to endear him to the audience and it is this lack of pathos that was for me this films ultimate undoing as even at the end I could barely shed a tear when the film lived up to its English language title by leaving him alone.

I'm living with tainted blood.

one of Turkish films about solitude, the other and love. seductive for atmosphere and for tension and for the manner to escape from yourself. simple, delicate, wise. one of films about the meet who change everything and who becomes not exactly essential but the fundamental choice for discover yourself. like many Turkish contemporary films, after its end, the only great memory remains the flavor. like the cinnamon flavor. sad. and refreshing. and this is all.

This is perhaps Çağan Irmak's best movie to date - an anti-romantic drama set in and around Beyoğlu that ostensibly analyzes the crisis of contemporary masculinities, but ends up showing how self- interested people actually are.

Alper (Cemal Hünal) is a successful chef with a penchant for collecting 80s pop LPs. In public he comes across as a generous, though perfectionist boss; in private he lives a life of solitude and self-interest, as he regularly haunts out local whores for a spot of S&M. Into his life comes Ada (Melis Birkan), a clothes-shop owner who initially rejects him but responds eventually to his persistent advances. The two of them fall in love but inevitably the affair ends in tears.

That is the entire plot of the movie; but nonetheless Irmak retains our interest by making telling thematic points. Alper's fondness for 80s music is part of his conquest strategy; chat the girl up, take her home, cook her a meal, put on some soft music and sexual success will inevitably follow. Unable - or is it unwilling - to acknowledge his true feelings, he inhabits a mental prison, despite his conquests. This is suggested through a regular use of shots showing him driving a car through the streets of İstanbul, with the camera outside focusing on his expression behind the wind-shield. On other occasions Irmak uses prison-images - for example, photographing Alper in close-up behind a metal bed-head, with iron bars obscuring his face.

The film's narrative unfolds in a series of two-shots and shot/reverse shots, which might suggest a concentration on character. However Irmak intersperses these shots with a series of jump-cuts - for example, when Alper prepares his dinner, or when Ada cooks breakfast one morning after a night of sexual passion. This technique suggests that the protagonists are somehow in a hurry; they want to get as quickly as possible through their daily rituals so that they can move on to something else. They cannot reflect on their emotions or their feelings towards one another.

The final sequence is particularly memorable. Ada and Alper re- encounter one another in Beyoğlu: by now Ada is married to someone else, while Alper is still isolated. As they exchange banalities with one another, we hear their true feelings expressed in voice-over. We learn from Ada that she has a memory of her time with Alper - a 45 rpm record that she took from his mother's house - that Alper knows nothing about. Here is the true source of nostalgia; not necessarily a mood, or a piece of music, but an object that recalls the past. Alper can, and never will, discover how this works, being too much concerned with himself alone.

Director Cagan Irmak had moved his audience to tears with his beautiful, semi-political, semi-melodramatic "Babam ve Oglum" only a few years ago. Now, here he is with a much more mature and deeper depiction of a tortured soul of our times. At a certain point, it is reminiscent of Allen's "Annie Hall" and there is a gentle, sly nod to Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", and this film deserves comparison to both of these films; no need to be modest. The main character is a handsome, young restaurant owner, a chef in Istanbul and his casual relationships with a large variety of women say something about his actual loneliness. On the other hand, she is a lively, lovely young woman with a pretty little costume shop and when they meet, it's not love at first sight, but a love that grows and is woven with their efforts, especially hers. But this is not an ordinary, straightforward womanizer-turned-romantic-by-true-love-kind-of story. It is the sad story of a man who has alienated himself from all emotional human contact because of a life in "the big city". It is all the more sad because he is aware of it, he wants to open up and get rid of it, but he just can't. And she was just about to make it easier for him... Anyway, this is definitely a movie worthy of seeing. It is not just a local story, I'm sure people all around the world will identify with the characters in this film. I hope little films like these are seen by large and different audiences and get the praise they deserve.

a great romantic movie to come out of turkey, but calling it romantic does not do it justice. its also a study of the nihilism and alieanation of the individual in modern times...when the young generation can live without the taboos instilled by our parents....when we can date who we want, be-friend when we want...and simply live the way we want.

but it does have romantic elements...their utopian life is a bit too hollywoody for my tastes, but its what keep people coming to the movies.

but this 'virus' - 'inexplicable' reason for the self-afflicted loneliness never gets even a glimpse of an explanation...i would say its the unequivocal result of big-city living, but the only ever explanation we get completely destroys that theory (apparently he was a loner as a kid in his small town). so what is the reason, origin of this masochistic behavior? he seems quite unhappy and regretful about it from the beginning to the end. this never gets explored, and makes the point superbly weak.

the music is nostalgic and amazing...as if the 'love' they feel is a story from a time long past but can not happen in the modern times - great placement. the movie will capture you and keep you from the beginning, but it will leave you with some questions.

and for those who continue to view turkey in the same light as the more conservative muslem countries...the very first scene is a 'in your face dumbo' moment...basically we have the guy meeting a married woman in the middle of the night after a brief internet conversation, a woman whose husband has a cockhold fantasy and will be watching the two perform.

cheers.