But unfortunately, this punk rocker origin story suffers major issues. Even if you are devout follower of punk rock, I couldn't confidently recommend this film.
The film follows Ozan, a young man with dreams of escaping Istanbul and making it big with his punk rock music. His father, Atlan, once a famous singer who left his life of fame behind to tend to his children, is less accepting of Ozan's dreams. After an intense argument, Ozan finally gets a opportunity to leave Turkey behind and achieve his dreams.
Sounds interesting, right? But unfortunately, big glaring problems plague the film.
A big issue I have with this film is with our main character, Ozan. Ozan is a remarkably flat character with barely any personality whatsoever. Burak Deniz is a incredibly talented actor, and after seeing him in "Kal", I was more inclined to watch this film. Unfortunately, the script does Ozan a great disservice, as he essentially becomes a broken record, constantly repeating his distaste for Istanbul, Turkey, and his father. So much so that other characters in the film urge him to look at his situation from a different perspective, which he basically ignores. Burak Deniz does his absolute best trying to breathe life into this character, but ultimately falls flat. He has definitely matured as an actor (honestly go watch "Kal" if you want to see him in a good film), but his performance in this film left much to be desired.
Another massive problem that plagues the film is the cinematography. The cinematography really handicaps the film. If you are prone to motion sickness, do not watch this film. As soon as our main character is on the move (which is very frequent due to this film essentially being a wild goose chase), whether it be on the bus, in a taxi, or literally just walking, the camera goes absolutely ballistic. Zooming in and out ever half second, intense camera shaking, awkward camera angles are all to be expected if you chose to watch this movie. All of this makes this film very disorienting to watch.
Another reason why I didn't enjoy this film is the poor worldbuilding. This film is set during a point of unrest for Turkey, but instead of cleverly showing us this time of festering tension, it is constantly shoved down our throats through dialogue. It is so bad that the plot essentially pauses as we are forced to watch a conversation between two people discussing the differences of culture between London and Istanbul. Then, during the last 20 minutes of the film, tensions erupt at a... small courtyard with civilian militia men and the disgruntled youth of Turkey. It is such a major letdown for what is a extremely important turning point in Turkish culture and society.
Overall, despite me essentially being the target audience for this movie, it straggles its way to the end of its runtime. I cannot in good faith recommend this film.
The film follows Ozan, a young man with dreams of escaping Istanbul and making it big with his punk rock music. His father, Atlan, once a famous singer who left his life of fame behind to tend to his children, is less accepting of Ozan's dreams. After an intense argument, Ozan finally gets a opportunity to leave Turkey behind and achieve his dreams.
Sounds interesting, right? But unfortunately, big glaring problems plague the film.
A big issue I have with this film is with our main character, Ozan. Ozan is a remarkably flat character with barely any personality whatsoever. Burak Deniz is a incredibly talented actor, and after seeing him in "Kal", I was more inclined to watch this film. Unfortunately, the script does Ozan a great disservice, as he essentially becomes a broken record, constantly repeating his distaste for Istanbul, Turkey, and his father. So much so that other characters in the film urge him to look at his situation from a different perspective, which he basically ignores. Burak Deniz does his absolute best trying to breathe life into this character, but ultimately falls flat. He has definitely matured as an actor (honestly go watch "Kal" if you want to see him in a good film), but his performance in this film left much to be desired.
Another massive problem that plagues the film is the cinematography. The cinematography really handicaps the film. If you are prone to motion sickness, do not watch this film. As soon as our main character is on the move (which is very frequent due to this film essentially being a wild goose chase), whether it be on the bus, in a taxi, or literally just walking, the camera goes absolutely ballistic. Zooming in and out ever half second, intense camera shaking, awkward camera angles are all to be expected if you chose to watch this movie. All of this makes this film very disorienting to watch.
Another reason why I didn't enjoy this film is the poor worldbuilding. This film is set during a point of unrest for Turkey, but instead of cleverly showing us this time of festering tension, it is constantly shoved down our throats through dialogue. It is so bad that the plot essentially pauses as we are forced to watch a conversation between two people discussing the differences of culture between London and Istanbul. Then, during the last 20 minutes of the film, tensions erupt at a... small courtyard with civilian militia men and the disgruntled youth of Turkey. It is such a major letdown for what is a extremely important turning point in Turkish culture and society.
Overall, despite me essentially being the target audience for this movie, it straggles its way to the end of its runtime. I cannot in good faith recommend this film.