cathiehubertfr Reviews

The Ambassador's Daughter (2019–2021)

Engin Akyürek, The actor and the camera

[10/10 · 21 June 2021]

Sefirin Kizi. Emre Kabakuzac.

Engin Akyürek the actor and the camera / Sefirin Kizi In films, long shots are usually used to put the characters in context they are informative and often show them in action, whereas close ups are used to reveal intimate emotions.

In Sefirin Kizi, the people revolving around Sancar and Nare are most of the time, filmed in medium shots or long shots, whereas Nare and Sancar emotions and intimate relationship unfold when the camera comes close. The series alternates both and the spectator is carried away on this roller coaster, driven by the main male character Sancar Efe, performed by the soon to become acting icon EnginAkyürek. I wish here to focus on Engin Akyürek as Sancar efe. After years of successful acting in various series and films, I think he has reached in Sefirin Kizi a level of excellency rarely seen on screen internationally.

His body language in relation to the camera is the focal point, the core of how the story unfolds, one of the reasons why the story brings about so many emotions within the spectator, He navigates between the action scenes and the dramatic emotional scenes with mesmerizing facility.

In the long and medium shots, the hot blooded efe Sancar, barges in, runs, turns, comes and goes, threatens, falls, dances, takes over houses, orders people around, fights, rages. Pacing the screen, he dances with the camera, his arms like wings, his feet solid into the ground, elegant, sturdy and proud. Sunlike actor, his body takes over the space he moves in, pushing the limits of the screen, a stage performer like no one else these days. Sancar is witty, passionate, versatile, ultra sensitive, powerful and charismatic.

On the other side of the spectrum, when everything narrows down and the camera comes close to the actor's face, we go from outside to inside, from noise to silence, we enter Engin Akyürek lyrical world, the extraordinary ability he has, to be one with the camera or rather his ability to act from his soul as if the camera was not filming.

A few examples only: Episode 14, Sancar cries outside his cabin and finally says Nare's name. The slightest palpitations of grief on his skin, trace the story of his pain. Suddenly what is left is the silent helplessness of Sancar. The camera so close, comes and finds him, amplifying the emotional intensity of the heart broken efe.

Episode 13, when Sancar goes to the mill to threaten Akin, the camera approaches him on the side, focusing on his charcoal like eyes and exposes the darkness Sancar has entered. What is burning in his heart and soul is visible, the angles, the close ups are like fragments of Sancar's experience. He is one with the camera. It takes a lot of soul searching and depth for Engin Akyürek to be able to express the murderous despair living inside Sancar at that point. In episode 21 when he gets closer to Nare and in episode 22, when he feels guilty at the trial, the way he works on his body language is outstanding. His head movements, his shivering mouth, the minute changes in his eyes, the vibrations on his skin speak of love. As I mentioned in another article, he does take after the silent movies actors, as he does not need to utter a word, to express the depths of Sancar efe internal emotional shifts.

The bigger than life actor travels from movement to stillness and he shines in both, torn between what he thinks he must do, his pride, his vital energy, and the silence of his mouth when his eyes speak.

In Sefirin Kizi , acting out his emotions, the actor has reached a new level of intensity, mesmerizing the public with his visceral body and soul acting and we are left shaken and happy to be able to witness such wonders.

Cathie Hubert auteur artiste France.

The Ambassador's Daughter (2019–2021)

Engin Akyürek a lyrical actor by author Cathie Hubert

[10/10 · 21 June 2021]

Portrait.

Engin Akyürek, through his spine-shivering acting, brings the story to a whole different level.

Sefirin Kizi Series 2019/2020 by Emre Kabakusak ( Engin as Sancar Efeoglu).

So much has been said about the actor Engin Akyürek. His characters appear at first sight as quite ordinary: cop, peasant, businessman, artist, blacksmith, student and are very much anchored into Turkey everyday life and culture. The stories often talk about social and political issues (Kara papa Ask, Fatmagül, Bir bulut Olsam, Olene Kadar ) with lots of suspense and usually sustained by a passionate epic love story. Intelligent, well built screenplays and filming, indeed a good entertaining cinema.

However, Engin Akyürek, through his spine-shivering acting, brings the story to a whole different level. Filmmakers and cameramen sense it no doubt, who come close to his face, to try and capture the internal shifts of his heart, what comes out of him, when he is acting.

To pay tribute to his talent, you need to take the dust off the words, carve them like you would for gold, come closer, celebrate on paper his shimmering presence.

He is a free spirit in the world of Turkish series. Originally from Ankara, no doubt a child of his own culture, yet, his soul-searching acting is universal, he speaks to each of us. His latest serie, Sefirin Kizi ( the ambassador's daughter) by Emra Kabakusak reveals the actor evolution and psychological maturity.

In my eyes, and very much so in Serifrin Kizi, he takes after the great actors of the silent movie era (Joan of Arc by Karl Dreyer is a good example). Those movies beautifully expressed the character's inner feelings, in a visual poetic way. This is exactly what Engin does, this is his secret. His eyes speak of joy, love, pain, doubt, despair, anger. Intense, he blazes out of the screen, and suddenly, what seemed ordinary or familiar, turns into shimmering light. It takes a star to carry a close up.

I want to portray how he gracefully takes us with him into such emotional depths and how those feelings, like shooting stars, fly from the film set, straight into our heart, leaving us speechless.

Watching him act, is like reading a landscape. Lyrical when he performs, in his acting I see windy islands, rivers, steep slopes, spring softness, dark thunders, sinking boats, storms, starry skies. When Sancar is happy, his soul shines, when he sinks into murderous fury, the dark lakes of his eyes speak of death.

The slightest palpitation on his face, a shiver on his lip and he is back into torment or joy. His whisper a birdsong, his screaming pain, an earth tremor. The distance between him and us so thin, he is a fabulous interpreter of the human soul. He sheds a light on our vulnerability, emotions, torments, what we, vulnerable human beings feel, when confronted to others, when we love.

I do not know where his vital energy, his inner strength come from. Maybe in his life, away from the camera, when he is silent, looking into his soul, maybe when he catches the sound of the wind in the trees, the song of the sea or when he walks with his own people, catching feelings and moods around him. Whatever he does, the result on the screen is mesmerising. He comes back to us, ardent, passionate dark and glowing. A generous, outstanding actor. Visual poet, he sails in the high winds, taking us in his wake.

( Translation from French ) ©Cathie Hubert 2020 Artist, author, designer, French teacher.