I have had the chance of seeing this film at 2019 Ankara International Film Festival. The plot offered in the festival pamphlets motivated me into buying tickets for it despite being a complete stranger to the cast & crew and pretty much every other component that made this film possible.
Pop Aye offers its audience the journey of an elephant and a man who experiences various disappointments and a general sense of unhappiness at work and home and becomes sort of weary of everything that shapes his life. I will not disclose the nature of their relationship here, in order to avoid any possible spoilers and because of the fact that I believe what makes you enjoy the film is to discover it yourself as you watch it. Suffice it to say that the man holds the elephant very dear to his heart and I believe, that was the magic of the movie. The interaction between the two, how they witnessed each other's sufferings (physically and mentally) and how they came across very different people with different stories who suffer in various (but somehow similar) ways were the defining features of the film.
Defining this movie as such might make one think that it is sort of a cliche, but it really wasn't and that was the success of the film. I appreciated Kirsten Tan's writing and unique perspective in that sense. Especially, the way she paid attention to the stories told by diverse people was commendable. A road movie is supposed to show different journeys of different people, crossroads and comebacks. Pop Aye, although not to the point of perfection, managed to pull this off.
