User reviews

I am from the country which the movie's story is about, Turkey. Seen this film several times in fifteen years and undoubtly I took pleasure in each time. It is about an honest, good hearted land lord having several villages. The movie is trying to show the end of the feudal system in south-east of Turkey by the influence of city life. It uses an ironic manner. Actually, in order to comprehend the story exactly and to take the same pleasure like me, you should be native like me. But it is worth enough if you interested in such a story. For me, it is one of the best 10 Turkish movies. Sener Sen is a living legend of Turkish cinema.

Ertan

This is one of the best Turkish movies. It shows the feodal life in South East of Turkey perfectly.

I have seen this wonderful movie a couple of times and in each time I got the same pleasure and never bored. The movie basically gives one vital lesson to its audience and it is that every human being has to have a talent or let's say every person has to do at least one thing professionaly in their lifes in order to survive in case of hardship. I would like to give an example about this. Zugurt Aga was a rich man in his town and even does not need to do anything because he has a lot of assistants next to him but despite he is very good at cooking "cig kofte" (let's translate as "raw meat balls" to English) and when he lost all of his belongings and became poor, he immigrated to big city (Istanbul) and started to sell his homemade, delicious, original cig kofte and eventually be happy.

Always interested in movies which are way better than the usual production,

I read these two interesting comments about it...

which gave we the feeling to have a look on it...

Unfortunately, doesn't seem to exist outside Turkey, in any sort of support, CD, DVD, nor VHS.

And anyway with no English/French/Spanish or German subtitles,

it wouldn't be impossible to understand anything,

because obviously I don't speak Turkish : a pity !

I just watched Babam Ve Oglum (Cagan Irmak 2005) (with subtitles... lol)

and frankly it's a wonderful great gem, unknown outside Turkey

If The Agha is as good as the mentioned above, a real miss !

The leading role of the film is played by Sener Sen, a man who wants to be a respected aga in the village, but constantly loses his hands with every opportunity he has. Zugurt Aga finds himself asking, "I have been dreaming of being an aga in the village for years, but when will I become a real aga in this village?" But things are getting to a point where his dream of becoming rich is getting further away by the minute.

The struggle for aga in the village, his efforts to become rich and the misfortunes he experiences both make the audience laugh and say, "Yes, this is the fate of Zugurt Aga: Trying to become rich, but never being rich!" When Zugurt Aga realizes that things are going wrong, he starts to confess, "But I am an aga, how did I become so poor?" Unfortunately, there is no answer as simple as this question!

The Dream of Becoming an aga - But Constantly Failing!

Zugurt Aga actually wants to be an "aga" more than anyone else in the village. But while he is dreaming of this, things do not go as he wishes. In fact, most of the people who are acting as "aga" in the village tell him, "You will be more of a zugurt!" Zugurt Aga thinks that he has a few simple rules for being an "Aha, I messed up again!" Every time, he realizes that those rules are for others, not for himself.

Of course, all of Zugurt Aga's efforts end in hilarious failure. But he still does not give up hope. Throughout the film, Zugurt Aga's disappointments are depicted in such an entertaining way that the viewer cannot help but think, "Come on Zugurt Aga, this won't work without being a little more zugurt!"

Zugurt Aga and the Dilemma of Being a Real Aga

On the one hand, Zugurt Aga says, "Nobody knows me in this village!", and on the other hand, "Come on, this is the chance to be an "Agha!" Where did this business go?" Zugurt Aga puts his life on the line for the aga position, but for some reason he can never be like the real agas in the village. He encounters failure at almost every corner, but still hopes, "At least this time I'll get lucky!" Of course, this hope is always shattered after a very short time. The answer to the question, "Zugurt Aga, when will you get rich?" is, "Never, but you'll always be ridiculous!"

The Funny Case of Bad Fate and Being Zugurt!

While watching the movie, the drama of Zugurt Aga is presented in a somewhat comical way. Each new attempt causes Zugurt Aga to become even more "zugurt" after the moment he says, "I understand what it means to be an aga!" Each new disappointment makes the audience laugh even more because when Zugurt Aga shouts, "Make me an aga too!", he says, "This should be called zugurt!" every time. While coping with his bad fate, he also encounters funny situations at every opportunity. While accepting the injustice of life, zugurt aga says, "Even if it's zugurt, there must be a funny way to live life!" and always laughs.