Kurtulus is unprecedentedly the most successful production of Turkish film history. If one asks what makes a movie successful, it can be said, the 4 most important features that determine the quality of a film are scenario, casting, director and music. Kurtulus combines all of these features admirably at a very high quality.
The most important point, when it is wanted to make a film about Turkish War of Independence is to find an excellently suitable actor for the Atatürk role. If a costume drama fails that, other factors cannot be enough to do the film good. In Kurtulus, Rutkay Aziz made an amazing job in Atatürk role and according to most of the viewers, he was the best choice for this job.
The scenario was written by Turgut Özakman, who was originally a scenarist and knows the history of the era the film depicts, better than most of the academic historians. Secondly, as the director, Ziya Öztan had the chance to work with a paramount casting, consists of the most successful actors and actresses of Turkey. It can be said, it is not easy to find a good actor, this film excludes in its time. Additionally, in this film, resemblance of some actors to real historical characters is incredible. The best examples are: Nurettin Pasha, Llyod George and Winston Churchill. Thirdly, the music producer Muammer Sun did an amazing job and produced first class music pieces for this film, which are very effective to get the audience.
As the most successful costume drama, which depicts the era of Turkish War of Independence, Kurtulus has not an equivalent match for its time. This great production is an output of a non profit seeking state association and by this means, a lot of advantages of it were used. Probably the most important one is, using of thousands of real time military personnel to shoot battle scenes.
The film treats the historical events objectively and it is a great tool to have a comprehensive understanding of the era. From the steppes of Ankara to green hills of British prime minister's residence, the history is shown from multiple perspectives. In a short time of six episodes, the film is depicting all important aspects of the time in a concentrated manner.
It is recommended for everybody to watch this masterpiece, who are willing to learn about the time and have fun.
