Love in Another Language, Basarir's directorial debut is a modern take on a romance tale between Onur (Mert Firat)a deaf youngster and Zeynep (Saadet Aksoy) a call-center center worker.Though Onur is actually not a dumb person he just stopped talking ever since his father got ashamed of the strange sounds his son produced while he tried to speak. Zeynep works in a call-center. Though she feels embittered against the inflexible work conditions and the whole nature of her work,namely being obliged to reason with thoughtless and brusque clientele on the phone she has no intention of quitting the job because she has already tried lots of of various non-specialized, unrelated jobs before. On the other hand Onur works as a librarian though he actually studied graphic design.
Zeynep and Onur meet when Onur attends the birthday party of his friend from the rowing team. In a boisterous party somehow they never get to talk but they like each other. When Onur turns out to be a handicapped fellow Zeynep asks herself :" Could we really get along well without ever talking?" That's where the title and the whole message of the movie comes from.
Inspired by a real-life experience, the movie brings up an important social issue in a world "disabled people are still being treated as though they are different creatures, or as though they are incomplete." like Basaran says. The movie really pulls it off in its meritorious effort of showing that there is a fine line, an obscure boundary between ruining everything in a wearisome logorrhea and communicating effectively with fewer platitudes and more heart.
Mert Firat, in his first acting debut steals the show. Albeit hammy at a few forgivable points, he plays with his heart for sure. Saadet Aksoy, already a known face from Turkish TV series does her job finely. Both of them apparently had to learn how to use the sign language, which is an effort resulted in a written and visual sign language glossary in Turkey, available for everybody.
In spite of all the humanitarian message, commendable debuts and a few beautiful soundtracks would I call this movie a perfect example of Turkish cinema? Well not exactly... In my humble opinion if a movie is shot in Turkish it should give you an insight into the social and cultural mores of this country. We are still trying come to grips with a social context named "namus" roughly translated as honor. I know that we are living in a modern world where pre-marital and extra-marital sex is becoming more and more common regardless of religion and nationality but I still think the movie tried to ingratiate itself with the Western audience. Whether we like it or not, whether we accept it or not, we are still not a country where most people would condone sexual acts that would look like a one night stand. In Istanbul,where the movie was filmed,it may be natural for some people belonging to a certain social stratum to move in with their beloved ones even if they are not married but the concept "namus" defining ethical highly gender-specific category of relations still holds sway. It is still an active concept even in parts of big cities. What I mean is that the movie could have been an more honest take on these relations. Some foreigner who knows a bit about these strictly gender-bound rules that can even lead to honor-killings in some extreme cases would be naturally confused by the movie.
Zeynep and Onur meet when Onur attends the birthday party of his friend from the rowing team. In a boisterous party somehow they never get to talk but they like each other. When Onur turns out to be a handicapped fellow Zeynep asks herself :" Could we really get along well without ever talking?" That's where the title and the whole message of the movie comes from.
Inspired by a real-life experience, the movie brings up an important social issue in a world "disabled people are still being treated as though they are different creatures, or as though they are incomplete." like Basaran says. The movie really pulls it off in its meritorious effort of showing that there is a fine line, an obscure boundary between ruining everything in a wearisome logorrhea and communicating effectively with fewer platitudes and more heart.
Mert Firat, in his first acting debut steals the show. Albeit hammy at a few forgivable points, he plays with his heart for sure. Saadet Aksoy, already a known face from Turkish TV series does her job finely. Both of them apparently had to learn how to use the sign language, which is an effort resulted in a written and visual sign language glossary in Turkey, available for everybody.
In spite of all the humanitarian message, commendable debuts and a few beautiful soundtracks would I call this movie a perfect example of Turkish cinema? Well not exactly... In my humble opinion if a movie is shot in Turkish it should give you an insight into the social and cultural mores of this country. We are still trying come to grips with a social context named "namus" roughly translated as honor. I know that we are living in a modern world where pre-marital and extra-marital sex is becoming more and more common regardless of religion and nationality but I still think the movie tried to ingratiate itself with the Western audience. Whether we like it or not, whether we accept it or not, we are still not a country where most people would condone sexual acts that would look like a one night stand. In Istanbul,where the movie was filmed,it may be natural for some people belonging to a certain social stratum to move in with their beloved ones even if they are not married but the concept "namus" defining ethical highly gender-specific category of relations still holds sway. It is still an active concept even in parts of big cities. What I mean is that the movie could have been an more honest take on these relations. Some foreigner who knows a bit about these strictly gender-bound rules that can even lead to honor-killings in some extreme cases would be naturally confused by the movie.