Closing Time

Well its merry Muslim Christmas time again. As my young years fly by faster and faster one after the other, i rarely stop to think about the circumstances that have led me to this time and place.

Looking back 5 years, to the historic pre Utku era, i would have never imagined a life in Istanbul with a Turkish man, making sounds from my mouth that are supposed to be Turkish words. Like, who spiked my apple juice with the unexpected?

While this year and a half has seen enough cultural and personal whirlwinds to write a decent drama novel, the essence of my time here is skin deep, it has been transfused into me, injected into my soul. Living in Istanbul is like living with you're fiery, old grandmother who knows and feels more than your whole family combined. She is unsympathetic and non forgiving yet wake the next day and she showers you with loving energy and charisma. She enlightens you with her historic experience and customs, she lends your ear to fables told through generations. Yet, it isn't what you hear, see and smell from her, its the way she shakes you to feel through her every move. You suddenly live your life with feelings never felt before. In an uncontrolled environment, you are forced to grasp a handle on all things real and not to let go, especially in times of dark desperation. Only after realising what you really want can you let go in order to pursue the more controlled destination.

So, i have let go. I have chosen the more familiar ground, where surf meets turf. Its time to head south and plant the seeds, grow the trees and heat the oven or whatever the phrase is. I wont even try to shake Istanbul from my stubborn back. No doubt my future Sydney sleeps hold treacherous dreams of sounds, smells and images through the winding streets of Beyğolu, but a little melancholy never hurt anyone.

You have me firm in you're grip Istanbul, loosen it please, it will make it easier for both of us.

Cutlure In a Box (winter nights and Turkish film)

I never really thought of myself as a home body. From memory i was a mover and shaker, ready to take on the town painting it red with wickedness. Those were the days of roof top dancing to the darbuka, midye tava and beer on the sidewalk and long strolls through Balat and Fener. Those were the pre rainy season days.

These days my apartment, heated at a temperature resembling the Sahara dessert and my local DVD store have a even 50:50 slice of my free time and I'm not ashamed to say so. But before you judge my hibernating tendencies with ‘seez the day’ snobbery, ill tell you that from the couch there is a crash course in Turkish culture that the guide books don't tell you about. The best part being, your baklava behind doesn’t have to move and inch.

As a foreigner in Turkey, watching a Turkish film is like watching my mother put on her makeup as a child. What you see in the reflection is vibrantly familiar yet you can’t quite relate to it the way you want to, you just yearn to one day experience it first hand yourself. Yeşilcam melodramas, modern art house films, and Sultan fairy tales have provided me with transient Turkish makeovers, applying coat after coat of color to my cultural inquisition.

Turkish cinema has had an interesting ride through the 21st century. Up until 1896, films were a private luxury for the sultans court. Soon after, in a Galata square beer house, films first started to be screened for the Turkish public. However an actual Turkish production wasn't to be made for another 18years when in 1914 the Turkish army funded its reserve officer to make the documentary ‘The Demolition of The Russian Monument at St Stephen’. Fortunatly, the only way possible was up and in the 1940s film producers organised companies and in turn companies started to produce some notable work with their first festival winner ‘Unutulan Sır’ (forgotten secret). The 50s then brought shape to the industry with its budding directors such as Lutfi Akad, Atıf Yilmaz and Metin Erksan leading us into the goldern years of Turkish cinema of Yeşilcam. Described as the ‘Turkish Hollywood’ Yeşilcam, the result of the 1960s socialist desire for cheap collective entertainment, graced Turkish popular culture for a fleeting 10years between 1965-1975. Its downfall came after an economic crisis and the extension of television, yet those melodramatic years are still very much alive in Turkish home film collections today. Leading us to the present; the social and economic changes bred some internationally acclaimed films depicting the social issues of the time such as ‘Yol’ and Lütfi Akads ‘Gelin’. These days Turkish film is becoming more and more present on the international stage with a number of International film festivals being held in Istanbul and Ankara. Turkey with its natural and historic riches, and Istanbul with its spectacular aesthetics and winding Beyğolu streets makes for incredible cinematography, but its seems as though directors have only recently started to hone in on the visual and cultural. While a variety of dramatic and comedic films are out there, critics blame the lack of success of art house films to funding cuts and the intellectual minority. But ask around and spend an hour in your DVD store and you'll find a wild range of psycho thrillers, minimalist pieces, romantic comedies and classic dramas, here a few to start you off.

Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım (My little red scarf, 1978) by festival award winner Atıf Yılmaz is a post Yeşilcam classic that flutters the hearts of any Turk with appreciation for archetypal melodrama. If not for its ‘city boy meets country girl’ theme then its for Türkan Şoray’s melancholic seduction or Cahit Berkay’s music that exceeds the average dramatic edge. Ask a local about it, and a sweet reminiscent smile appears on their face. Despite laughing when i should have been crying, my laughter was strung with appreciation, especially for Türkan Şoray’s narration of “What is love? Is is passion, or is it kindness?” because apparently you couldn't have both back then a source tells me. This is perhaps the most adored of its kind, and a must see but you better put the feminist in you on mute.

Yol ( The Way ,1982) By Yılmaz Gunay is a poignant, important classic; reflecting the social issues of the time. The screen play was written while Yılmaz Gunay was in jail and portrays an unrelenting image of Turkish authorities through the lives of five inmates struggling to make sense of their circumstances during a week’s leave from prison. Dedicated to the Kurdish struggle, it aroused controversy and was banned in Turkey for several years. Today, ‘Yol’ is one of the most significant films in Turkish history that sheds light on the bleak social issues of it’s period.

Uzak (Distant, 2003) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan is a minimalist, visually stunning art film that has impressed the international stage at the Canne and Chicago film festivals. Ceylan, a distinguished photographer has produced a number of impressive low budget films. The lonely lives of two men from the same village yet worlds apart living together in Istanbul is set under a microscope of long naturalistic scenes with minimal dialogue. Alienated from society, and ‘distant’ from their ideals we as viewers are on the provinces of their minimal interaction and cringing solitude. Ceylan’s spectacular yet simplistic shots around Istanbul and the country side balance these bouts of big city loneliness with beauty. ‘Highly recommended’ doesn't cover it, I'm insisting... see it.




Mustafa Hakkında Herşey (Everything about Mustafa, 2004) by Çarğan Irmak is a psychological thriller that displays some great talent. We watch, Mustafa (Fikret Kuşkan) a successful business man, collapse after his seemingly great life is torn apart by an accident. The accident unfolds more than a tragic loss, and casts him in a spiral of revenge and uncertainty that appears fatal for a certain taxi driver. Although thrilling in the best of senses, it delves into the subplot sensitively, revealing the not so successful sides to Mustafa’s life that he seems blind to. Great performances and a tight production make this one a good Friday night flick with a block of rich dark chocolate