sznkapi

It would be an unfair to comment on this movie purely based on it's screenplay, acting and technical aspects because this movie is not about any of them. It is a pure narrative of what the Turkish Revolution aspired to achieve after taking over a fallen country (Ottoman Empire) and the difficulties it faced along the way.

As the founder of modern Turkey M. K. Ataturk once said "The greatest war is the war against ignorance. True liberation can only be achieved by eliminating ignorance. Unless ignorance is abolished, the society remains in place, and anything that remains in place is going backwards." Ataturk aimed for complete independence of Turkish people in every aspect and this could never be achieved unless people understood the revolution and embraced it. To provide that, education was crucial. Since it was completely ignored during Ottoman Empire, majority of the Turkish people didn't know how to read or write, there were very little amount of schools most of which were solely teaching religious studies. So one of the first aims of the young republic was to build more schools and educate the nation. However, it wasn't that simple. Due to the lack of authority in late Ottoman Empire era, feudalistic structure still carried on in Anatolia. People like Dayi Bey exploited the ignorance of the uneducated villagers to maintain their fortune and political power. The revolution were completely against their interests because with education came the sense of equal citizenship which took away their control over people socially and financially. The republic said the village belongs to the republic which belongs to the people living in it; however, the rich feudals were kings of their own village and they didn't want to give it up that easy. Some rioted against the republic and punished severely. Turkish state didn't take a step back against the groups who didn't want to recognise its authority.

Another group that lost their privileges was the clergy. The clergy, represented by Serif Hoca, had social control over the people. They exploited the ignorance of the people in a similar way as feudals, using the religion that's altered in a way that suits them against the people that doesn't know any better. That's why one thing that Ataturk did was to translate Quran in Turkish so people can understand what they read and don't believe in the lies told by the clergy.

Lastly, we see the third party that allies with these two groups, the elite minorities. During late Ottoman Empire, the trade was in control of foreigners and the minority elites that took advantage of the favourable (unfavourable for the Turks) trade laws accepted by the Turkish state. After the republic, the national capital grew which broke the monopoly of these elites. They also lost their social privileges with the understanding of equal citizenship. Here represented by Leon Bey, you can witness how these three groups worked together against the republic.

You may ask, if these groups were against the republic who were the groups that supported the republic. Here we see, Kemal (representing Kemalist revolution and enlightenment), Gazi Dayi (patriots), Ayse and Hasret (the women that gained their rights with the republic), Duran Ali (representing the uneducated and unguided Turkish nation that misusing despite being full of spirit, finding a meaning with the republic), Veysel (the ridiculed people who got a second chance in life with the republic).

One thing I really liked is that you get to see the emotional reactionary nature of the Turkish people in this movie. All characters are selected wisely and it represents the Turkish sociology very accurately. I highly recommend if you're Turkish or a foreigner that's trying to understand the Turkish revolution better.