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Reviews
Vodka Lemon (2003)
Surrealism and comedy!
Vodka Lemon is such a great movie by a Kurdish director living in France. The film is full of surrealism (like the horse galloping in the streets and the ending in which the piano moves by itself)and comedy! The beautiful snow covered landscape is extraordinary, the scenes during the nights are best in terms of cinematography. I think this film is Hiner Saleem's best film, after moderately nice "Long Live the Bride...Liberation of Kurdistan", in particular. It shows how Kurdish people living in Armenia influenced by the Russian and Armenian cultures, like drinking vodka-lemon all day, even at the cemetery, while mourning for the dead wife. The story is well organized and weaved, sub-plots works well (like the piano player girl, Zine, and the Avin's marriage with the weird Kurdish man). Vodka Lemon's representation of Kurdish life and culture in Armenia is proper and great I think, Saleem is opening a window that reflects the life of Kurds in Diasporas. He did it before in his first feature "Long Live the Bride..)
devrim kilic
editor in chief www.kurdishcinema.org www.kurdishcinema.com
Vive la mariée... et la libération du Kurdistan (1998)
Nice comedy but...?
Famous Kurdish director Hiner Saleem. Saleem has four feature films. These are "Long Live the Bride-Liberation of Kurdistan" (1997), "Beyond Our Dreams", "Vodka-Lemon" (2003) and "Zero Kilometre" (2005). Also he is completed his latest feature recently, which is titled "The Drum-2006".
In particular, Saleem's two films, 'Vodka Lemon' and 'Kilometre Zero' have drawn international attention at film festivals including Cannes. I did not have a chance to watch his last two films, 'Kilometre Zero', 'The Drum' and his earlier film 'Beyond Our Dreams'. For this reason I cannot make any comment on them yet.
However I did watch "Long Live the Bride-Liberation of Kurdistan" on SBS TV in Australia a few years ago. So I'll be talking about this film which is a mixture of political satire and comedy. It reflects the life of Kurdish migrants living in France.
The film's main languages are French and Kurdish although French weighs more. In the film, Ceto, a Kurdish migrant, chooses a beautiful Kurdish girl from her video image to bring her to France to marry. Interestingly, the arriving girl happened to be to some extent "ugly" Mina, the sister of the girl Ceto had been chosen. Film develops around this idea, at the end Mina comes out to be a very beautiful girl but for Ceto, now fall-in-love with Mina, it is too late for everything.
"Long Live the Bride
Liberation of Kurdistan" takes place in France, though there is some images from Kurdistan. However the topic is the life of Kurdish migrant in France and the director is Kurdish, because of its considerable French language, I can not easily classify this film as a "Kurdish film". It lacks, from my perspective at least, the most important element of Kurdish film, namely the Kurdish language.
The other point is that, the film is shot from a Kurdish-French perspective not a pure 'Kurdish' perspective, though I do not suggest that it is not part of Kurdish Cinema movement. When I make that statement I'm aware of the fact that "Long Live the Bride
Liberation of Kurdistan" has created by a Kurdish director living in Diasporas, and set in France not in Kurdistan. It looked to me more a France film (could be French too) about Kurdish migrant living in Paris than a Kurdish film about Kurds. To some extent I felt uneasy watching Saleem's portrayal of Kurdish characters in "Long Live the Bride
", I'll try to explain my uneasiness in detail below.
By saying that I do not deny Saleem's films' "Kurdisness", as I said I'm only talking about the specific film here, nevertheless I do not see his films as Kurdish as Ghobadi's films. Besides, although the director is not Kurdish, Samira Makmalbaf's "Blackboards" (2000) looks to me more Kurdish than Saleem's "Long Live the Bride
" not just because of it's topic but also because of its language.
Samira's "Blackboards", thanks to its style and topic, language and location, the film is an insider's look to Kurds' plight following Halabja massacre in 1988. To me, "Blackboards" is all about Kurds and Kurdistan, it is shot from Kurdish perspective and especially noteworthy is the scene in which an old man asks a teacher to read the letter he got from his sons. Neither the old man nor the teacher would be able to read the letter because they do not know whether it is written in Turkish, in Arabic or in Farsi.
Nonetheless, I should state that in terms of representing Kurdish identity and culture, the plights of Kurds and reflecting the life in Kurdistan, Ghobadi is far ahead than other Kurdish directors." devrim kilic editor in chief www.kurdishcinema.org
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Such a nice and entertaining movie
This is a such a nice and entertaining movie. As in David & Layla directed by Jalal Jonroy, My big fat Greek Wedding too celebrates the love and cultural differences. Love, humanism, comedy, romance all are in that great film. My Big Fat Greek Weddeing brings people from different background closer and shows how important to accept the 'other' as other in order to be just happy! Being a migrant poses different problems and the individuals some times have to defy their original traditions and cultures to be able to love or be happy. In particular Greeks are very keen on and proud of their traditions and cultures (rightfully). I like the films which provide some insight and understanding of different cultures, or of individuals inner world. In this term My Big Fat Greeek Wedding does the job. That is why it is a very captivating film along with being funny enough to make you laugh even after you left the movie theater. I also recommend Mansoon Wedding, Bend It Like Beckham and David & Layla for the movie lovers.
devrim kilic editor of www.kurdishcinema.org
David & Layla (2005)
AN EXCELLENT FILM: David AND LAYLA: Criticism of cultural biases and celebration of love
DEVRIM KILIC
Saturday, July 29, 2006
I have been trying to see the film of New York based Kurdish director, Jalal Jonroy, and recently I have been lucky enough to see it on a small TV screen in New York. During the kind of private screening of David and Layla for my sister and me I was already exhausted by the heat and humidity of New York'sweather and for been walking in the streets of New York for more than 5 hours. Fortunately, seeing David and Layla and its well-written and performed jokes cooled me. I say it straight away that I like Jonroy's first feature very much, it is a great film. Though, I am sure it would be a better experience watching the film on a big cinema screen so that the sound and sight would be more amazing.
Although it is the first feature of director and made out of small budget and lack of well-established production team, it is as professional as any big budget Hollywood film. Yet, the performances of the actors/actress are wonderful. The well structured script and professionally directed film is the proof of Jonroy's creativeness. Throughout the film, the jokes are woven in a way that they do not prevent the film as being informative about Kurd's plight.
Jonroy's political-comedy is a kind of criticism of bias between cultures and religions. Film criticizes the way the western world deals with Kurds and the way Israel handles Palestinian people. And yet vice-verse, the way Muslims thinks of Jews people. However, most importantly, the film does take a side on the issue of cultural differences and political issues by celebrating the power of love and the need of accepting others as "other". David is a young Jew TV producer who happens to fall in love with a Muslim Kurdish girl, Layla, who does not have a green card to stay in America. Based in New York the film tells the story of David and Layla's love and their families' reaction to that. Layla, a nice looking and attractive girl, wanders in New York's busy streets and wherever she looks at, she sees Kurdistan; she looks at the sea and sees almighty Kurdistan Mountains
All big loves starts with coincidences and some kind of hatred. David, a microphone in his hand and a cameraman with him, asks Layla about her sex life and naturally gets a slap on his face as an answer. At the end, Layla falls for David too but there are so many obstacles and problems that they have to deal with; namely cultural differences and religious biases. Furthermore Layla's love of Kurdistan. She is not a political woman but a woman who is in love wit her country.
Neither of the family approves the relationship of David and Layla but their love transcends the cultural and religious biases of themselves and their families. As their relationship improve they change too. In a way, David becomes a Muslim and Layla becomes a Jewish. Finally, the prejudices are broken under the power of love and the couple gets married. At the end of the film, Layla is seen as still being in love with her country, Kurdistan, and praying for the good of Kurdish people with her Jewish in-laws, saying "Next Year in Kurdistan, Inshallah !" Furthermore, Layla makes her rather fundamental Jewish in-laws pray for "at least some Palestinians".
As being informative about Kurds and their plight, the film does make the job quite effectively; although there is a possibility that an average conservative Kurd would not like the film for its references about sex and sexuality. David and Layla is an excellent film in terms of entertaining people, criticizing people's bias for each other from different cultures and religion.
It reminded me the American film "My big fat Greek wedding" or 'Mansoon Wedding" to some extent, but David and Layla's handling of the cultural and religiousbias and misunderstanding is deeper and more realist and revolutionary.
David and Layla is not just a Kurdish film but a humanist film made by a Kurdish director who has been living outside of Kurdistan for many years. Thanks dear Jonroy for creating David and Layla. I think every Kurd and moviegoer should see this film and I look forward to see your next film on Gilgamesh or whatever! Devrim Kilic is the editor of www.kurdishcinema.org