The Father

I have seen almost all of Guney's films, and this is one of the best. Unfortunately, only two of them made it to VHS (Yol and The Wall), and none to DVD. They are important not only because of their quality as films, but also because they show us life in a country that few Westerners know anything about. Turkey is really two countries: one urbanized and industrialized, the other backward and agricultural. And both parts of the country have more than their share of conflicts, which Guney portrays with unrelenting realism. In "Baba" the father goes to jail for the crime of his landlord's son, and in return the landlord agrees to support his children. Then for much of the film, we see his life in prison - no torture or solitary confinement, just a walled-in community whose hierarchy reflects the world outside, and where the protagonist is called "Baba" (Father) in recognition of what he did. Then he is released and we learn the results of his sacrifice.