I Saw the Sun (2009)

About the movie: One of the messages of the movie which is the problem of Turks and Kurds is very useful and must be emphasized. Turks and Kurds are brothers and of the same team. Another message, which is the homosexuality doesn't have anything to do with the movie's general outline and I still can't understand, why it is there. Most probably in order to gain the Western audience's admiration. The funny part is about Norway. I don't know if the Norwegians somehow paid for the movie but there couldn't be any better propaganda for the country. I also live in Europe and we all know that Norway is not paradise and has other (maybe not financial or material issues but definitely social and pertaining to the Norwegian behaviour to foreigners) problems.

About its Oscar-candidacy: Well the West does like topics like homosexuality, political instabilities in a non-Western country (Oscar is quite political sometimes) and especially the well-known sun-symbolism. I don't know if Mahsun Kirmizigul also became part of the so-called Hollywood-initiation, but it can hardly be a coincidence that the sun is so emphasized in the movie. I don't really believe that it is going to get the prize.

Fmovies: There is no war in a city here, it's during unrest let's call it. If you are not familiar with the situation Turkey and the Kurds are having, you want to read up on that. It's not necessary to understand the movie/follow the story. It might be interesting to have this as a backdrop though to refer back to.

It's about a family in troubled times as you can imagine. One that has not only to face outside danger, but also has quite some turmoil inside the family. Feelings get hurt, but there is also violence especially with a thinking that may seem very backwards to a lot of people. Sometimes that is used for comedy (when it comes to technology or the "wonders" they achieve) but this is mostly a drama, with high stakes for every one involved. It's not easy to chew on and there are quite a few bumps along the road, still this has the right ingredients, it just needed a bit of a better direction and less confusion in parts

The link between war, development and poverty is unequivocally demonstrated in this Turkish movie about the long standing Kurdish insurgency in the country's eastern provinces. Most people just wish to get on with their lives and have no time for nationalisms or 'isms' of other sorts. Indeed, ask the transvestite character in the film, and it's clear most of us have many of our own problems without taking on the burdens of others onto our own shoulders.

Nonetheless, humans cannot be divorced from the realities around them. Hence, the individual who joins a political movement infused with the idealism of youth. Pitted against him is his brother who believes in the power and strength of the state to deliver services, e.g. education and healthcare. As these two fight, innocent farmers and shepherds who happen to live in villages in the battleground suffer.

To suffer means economic destruction and even death.

This is the story of one such family caught up in Turkey's Kurdish insurgency. Simultaneously, the movie reveals the conservative and male dominated nature of rural Turkish society.

It's a sad movie - prepared to shed tears. But 'I Saw the Sun' is a social statement which provides powerful insights for any student of Turkish society. The movie provides few answers but forces us to ask the right questions.

A must watch for anyone interested in Turkish society.

In Turkish with English subtitles.

I Saw the Sun fmovies. Popular Turkish arabesque singer-songwriter turned actor-director Mahsun Kırmızıgül ("The White Angel") followed this sceptically received freshman melodrama with this equally sceptically received sophomore melodrama which topped the Turkish box office and took an unappreciated trip to the Academy Awards selection committee.

Davut (Altan Erkekli) and Ramo (Mahsun Kırmızıgül) head two wings of an extended Kurdish family forced from their village by the conflict in Turkey's south-eastern region with one resettling in Istanbul and the other attempting to illegally enter Norway as the driving force of this epic melodrama of interwoven story lines.

Mahsun Kırmızıgül remains true to his arabesque roots with a demagogic central performance whilst more stoic support comes from veteran character actor Altan Erkekli ("O... Çocuklari" & "Waiting for Heaven"), stunning starlet Demet Evgar ("Shattered Soul" & "Banyo") and Yeşilçam award-winning up-and-comer Cemal Toktaş ("Black Dogs Barking").

The emerging director still suffers from the excess of sentimentality that lead his debut film to box-office success and critical drubbing but here he has a wealth of story lines worthy of his didactic style as his cardboard characters espouse messages of tolerance to a sweeping musical score that even the most cynical can't help but be moved by.

"You rarely ever see the sun here."

The film explains the truths about Turkey. Mahsun Kirimizigul is a singer in fact. And nearly half of the Turkish population thinks he is a caveman in Istanbul. But he is the best. He just does his work. He doesn't like magazines like another famous people. He just does his work and disappears.. But our citizen can't understand it. Mahsun knows much more things than the people who say him caveman.. That's OK i love him and his projects, his music, his personality although who whatever says..

Film is really good, you should watch if you are a smart and objective watcher. Thanks!

I watched the movie yesterday and thought on it for a while. Let me share my humble opinion on some aspects of the movie. The story was crafted to make it as tragic as possible by putting problems of people who were forced to migrate in the focus and spicing it with social adaptation. While trying to point some problems like terror and the social pressure, the choices were too far from each other. If the story was focusing only on the migrating family, it could have been much better. The gay issue didn't fit the whole movie at all and it looks like a patch trying to gain sympathy. So, for the plot, it is over exaggerated tragedy. Acting is good, especially the main characters did a pretty good job. I am afraid, I can't be that positive for the directing and technical aspects. The fighting scene was very clumsy. Overall camera usage was pathetic. This movie is an Oscar candidate by now. I don't think it has the slightest chance. Although the movie is quite good in some aspects, it is far far away from being a classic or what so ever...