Cenneti Beklerken

The director Dervis Zaim used a different technique, combining the modern cinema with an ancient art Miniature, never consists of light, shadow, volume and perspective, to explain the unknown situation in 17th century of Ottoman Empire. While watching the movie every scene seemed as a part of art in terms of color, costumes, light and impression. The audience may either find some clues about the system of the Empire such as life style, architecture, desires of Sultan's son to govern the empire and janissaries which are peculiar to Ottomans, or feel philosophical notions which are hidden behind abstract concepts like dreams, life, death, art and heaven. The sentence of Vizier (Vezir) "Both justice and beauty are necessary for Universe" is the sentence which can be counted as favorite quote of movie.

It was very interesting movie for a period of ottoman empire. The movie and miniatures interfacing together in the movie. You can see the miniatures then a scene from the movie. Especially the traveling scenes are great for miniatures and when eflatun was going to east with the men of vizier. I also traveled with them.

In the movie there was a place vizier says " the world not only needs justice but also needs goodness". I enjoyed with many quotes from this movie...

there are also some mistakes but I think these all came from production cost.

I congratulate the director, all actors, and actresses. Thank you it was nice to watch such a nice movie.

Most people who watched the movie sought historical truth in the script.

However, this movie is a 'fairytale' fiction.

Examining a work in such detail sometimes causes the things it tells to go unnoticed.

Dervis Zaim, is an intelligent Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus born director who has been doing some very important films without any great notice. His first feature "Tabutta Rovasata" was highly rewarded in international festivals, then the "Filler ve Cimen" was a brave attempt to criticise one of the most politically embarrassing scandals in Turkish history.

In Filler ve Cimen, Zaim had used the tile art of old Turkish tradition and now with Cenneti Beklerken, he has the art of miniature at the center of his plot. He says that this is for a reason: "To be able to have a cinema with a backbone, Turkish movies has to feed from the traditional arts of its history, tradition." Well, this is not Dervis Zaim at his best, the story is not very inspiring, has some flaw problems but the miniature animations are perfect. The film is technically surprising (except some 2D backgrounds). Actors are more than acceptable maybe except young Melisa Sozen.

All in all, Cenneti Beklerken is a must for anyone who wonders what Turkish cinema in 21st century is about. Zaim, is one of the most important Turkish film-makers around. He has the ability and heart to show that Turkish culture HAS a "Great Tradition" and he has the "Individual Talent" necessary...

To date CENNETI BEKLERKEN has been the only totally historical drama in director Dervis Zaim's oeuvre.

However, as expected from a director so preoccupied with temporal relationships, the action consciously oscillates between different levels of reality. It is basically a quest-narrative focusing on hard-pressed miniaturist Eflatun (Serhat Tutumler) who is forced on an expedition to quell a rebellion against the Sultan, and to draw the head of the rebel, once he is eventually killed. Unwilling to undertake the duty, he is forced to on pain of death. He eventually completes his task, but finds the Sultan's reaction is not what he anticipated.

Within this structure director Zaim offers a meditation on the miniaturist's art. It was said that a good artist was in contact with the divinity; Zaim does not go that far, but does suggest that he is equipped with the power to deconstruct realities. This is suggested through a remaking of Velazquez's "Las Meninas," which appears as a work dedicated to rebel leader Danyal (Nihat Ileri), using the original Velasquez form, but adapted to Ottoman cultures. Through this device Zaim makes us reflect on whom art belongs to, and the role of the viewer in the artistic exchange.

Like many of Zaim's films, CENNETI BEKLERKEN is a work that befits repeated viewings, so as to uncover its subtleties. It is not an easy watch, but ultimately a rewarding one.