Jîn

Although his first film "Oh Moon" was a huge success, Turkish director Reha Erdem firmly established his career in cinema with enormous worldwide success of Kaç Para Kaç/"Run for money". In "Jîn", he has chosen to portray the intrinsic nature which human beings share with animals. This film scores well in all departments especially photography which is highly close to nature. Animals and birds have been captured vividly to such an extent that one cannot help wondering whether they are really more natural than some of the most famous popular actors. Despite its overt political message for peace, "Jîn" begins with the portrayal of a young girl on the run. How is she able to conquer all obstacles and emerge a winner appears to be the film's main theme. Although it presents viewers with some idea about what is happening to people living in remote parts of Turkey, one cannot fail to marvel at the realistic depiction of the life of Kurdish people. This is one of the principal strengths of this film.

Jin, like in Cosmos, is a cinematographic masterpiece! The nature, the colours, music, and everything else... However... The however lies in the dialogues. In the film the girl is a PKK run-away, thus she is a Kurd. However, when she speaks Kurdish, you know that she does not know the language. This might not be a big deal for many, BUT IT THROWS ME RIGHT OFF! When I see this, I remember the Turkish movies from the 70, where in trying to speak like the Kurds, the actors would sound horribly wrong. This same problem existed in the movie Eastern Promises. The guy who speaks Turkish sounds like he is an Iranian, and you know it, because you know the language. In short, although I enjoyed Jin a lot, I could not get this problem, till the last minute.

This movie can share the title of "Reha Erdem's masterpiece" with Kosmos. However, this precedes Kosmos by daring to touch on a sensitive political element in Turkey and adding a strongly humanitarian dimension to its well-crafted cinematography. Reha Erdem proves himself as arguably the best contemporary Turkish director with this movie.

this lovely film moved me to post my first review. I usually prefer movies with lots of dialog. Turkish films generally don't have what I look for. Leaving the politics aside; I was spellbound by this character and the mountains were magnificent. This film was so moving that any criticisms I would have seem insignificant. The Kurdish cultural perspective was a nice refreshing point of view. The only movie I can think of to compare this to would maybe be "Into the wild." I would probably be happy to watch this actress doing just about anything. And the mountains of Turkey seem like a fairy-tale location. Thanks for letting me gush