G.O.R.A.

This movie takes one of the best abilities of us, the Turkish folk: To be able to make fun of things (especially in difficult situations), and puts it on the screen. Although most of the jokes are local, I'd love to see how a foreigner would react to the movie. The Turkish reaction is obvious: Many, many laughs.

It is hard to comment on a comedy movie's plot, but I can say that G.O.R.A.'s is at least as "meaningful", or as good as The Matrix' or Star Trek's.

And special effects deserve a single word: "Stunning!" Until now, Turkish sci-fi movies had been known for their special effects, or more specifically, their lack thereof. However, G.O.R.A. seems to have made the turning point in the Turkish movie industry. Watch it to see "what we (as in 'the Turkish folk') can do", if not for the hours of fun you are bound to have.

I have inflicted this film on every house guest for the last two years. Why have I done this? First, because I am exceptionally cruel. Really, that's true. But second, I have done this because it is a very clever film from an unlikely source. How many Turkish films have you seen lately? Okay,"Once Upon a Time in Anatolia" should be a must-see for everyone, and you might have stretched to "Iklimer" or "Three Monkeys", but after that? After that is "G.O.R.A." This film is strangely unappreciated. As I tell all those who fall within my grasp, this celluloid baby is the best Turkish sci-fi comedy ever made. Of course, they retort: how many Turkish sci-fi comedies are there? But that's not the point. Instead, you should prepare yourself for an onslaught of charm from the very talented comedian Cem Yilmaz, who also wrote the film. (Which is probably why he gets to kiss the stunning Ozge Ozberk.) No, it's not perfect- there are a few too many moments of physical comedy with Ozkan Ugur, one fart joke too many with Rasim Oztekin, but overall, it's a great antidote for those who don't expect smart comedy from outside the traditional powerhouses of the international film circuit. And for those of you who don't know - the fourth element is not wood.

Despite a lot of complaints that non-Turks would not find this funny, I did. I have seen it twice now. I do quite enjoy it and find much of it funny, with some parts extremely funny. Granted, a few things were not especially original, or were pretty tired or crude without being humorous to me, but these were minor problems and films like this always have some jokes that don't appeal to everyone. I cannot say I don't like a movie simply because I personally don't like some of the jokes or gags. Overall, the film was quite well-done and most of the jokes or spoofs of culture and films worked quite well.

One fun thing is to see this sort of film made from a Turkish perspective, rather than American. It puts a new twist on some things, even jokes that we've seen before or which would have been in an American or other film.

In part, I am sure my enjoyment of the film is helped by the fact that, while hardly being fluent in Turkish, I do know some Turkish and am quite familiar with the country. Therefore, while there are a number of very Turkey-specific jokes, I was able to enjoy at least some of them. I would therefore agree that a decent understanding of at least Turkish culture and recent history, if not the language, will enhance one's enjoyment of the film.

Other humour in the film seems pretty universal. As a result, there are quite a lot of jokes and spoofs that I know many Americans and Western Europeans would get. Again, while some are tired or crude, many are really quite funny and pulled off quite well.

I think that my biggest complaint is that some themes were not taken far enough. For example, more could have been done with the carpet salesman thing since that part was really quite funny and had more potential than the film exploited.

In the end, this is a pretty well-made, funny, and entertaining film. It could have been better, but it works well and should provide quite a few laughs, especially if one knows much about Turkey. It's rather silly, but that is pretty much the point, and the silliness here is mostly quite entertaining.

Although not really relevant for my discussion, I shall add that this film is also a milestone for Turkish cinema in terms of the special effects and production values for a film of this sort. I think it's important to recognize this, even though I was primarily concerned with giving my opinion of the film's content, etc. Thus, while one may be able to criticize some visuals compared to some big-budget Hollywood films, the production values/special effects are pretty good, especially considering the context.

Cem Yilmaz's best film no doubt.

I still know the jokes by heart.

Well, first of all, this movie is a good project. There is no science-fiction film in the history of Turkish cinema, and if you think about the budget, which was about 4 Mio. USD and nevertheless huge for Turkish proportions, George Lucas wasted a budget of 125 Mio USD for Star Wars Episode III, then it is the optimum of what has been created.

The story is no revolution, but no one ever expected that. Cem Yilmaz realised his vision of "Turks in space" and made his work well. His love for details is average.

To understand everything in that film, first you gotta be Turkish, since a big part of the humor is based on the street language that Cem Yilmaz is using perfectly. The second thing is, you have to know some US Science-Fiction movies like Star Wars, Matrix or Star Trek. Only the combination of these two requirements makes the movie really funny.

G.O.R.A is unusual to the Turkish public, so this is why some people didn't like it I think. I consider this work as new era of special fx in Turkish movies.

In the end, it is a solid Turkish space movie.