genghis_khan's reviews

Nefes is first of its kind in Turkey. Through the eyes of a small brigade of soldiers stationed at the border, the film examines the armed conflict that has been going on for more than 30 years in south-eastern Turkey.

Filmed on the high mountains of southern Turkey, the landscape provides a stunning and poetic backdrop. The seclusion, hardship and the tragedy these people had to endure is central to the story.

The film has its minor flaws but nevertheless it is effective in putting the audience in the shoes of these soldiers. And it is specifically significant to the Turkish citizens; for they will have a chance to truly empathize with those who rendered services in the region.

What happened in Normandy? What happened in Stalingrad? Was it all an international conspiracy? The kind of film that makes you suspicious if Nazis had actually won the war. Makes you paranoid. There are even excerpts from a Nazi propaganda footage in it of the Katyn massacre. How convenient? How convenient indeed.

It is allegorical. It is avant-garde. Its artistic value is relative to taste and my opinion, which is of course inherently subjective, is this is as much artistic as Salvador Dali's bottom.

We get the analogy. It is not what you would call subtle. The men and boys lured into the Karl Marx boat full of sweets. The rich defiling the innocent and pure. A man reborn covered in urine and feces (the kind of image that will stay with you for a very long time).

Of course you may want to watch it. The way you may want to watch a snuff film. Of course you may like this. The way you may like watching a man shoot himself.

I was expecting a samurai film, I couldn't have been wronger. It is hard to explain "Izo" with just words, even if I could I don't think it would cover all the things this film has to say.

Before explaining the story of this film I think it is essential to talk about the visual aspect of it. "Izo" looks like another experimental film from the director Takashi Miike, lots of unorthodox camera shots and visual story telling. Acting feels very theatrical... in a Japanese way. There is no stopping in this film, it is a fast ride from start to the end and you have to catch up with it.

As for the story, Izo is the main character in this, a samurai from feudal Japan who apparently had a lot of drama in his life. After his death his tortured soul wanders around modern and old Japan, endlessly taking lives. He denies the existence of God, faces old foes, those who hold grudge against him, sleeps with his mom and kills her, he sees women he had been with, kills them, kills lots of women, kills lots of everything actually. And the whole Japan -modern and old- wants to stop this guy, he is seen as a menace to the system, he doesn't belong to the system. And he travels back and forth in time, fighting and killing everyone that gets in his way, slowly turning into a demon.

There is a lot of defiance in "Izo", against everything human civilization stands for. Its purpose apparently is to question that which made us what we are. Where does religion, law, ethics come from? And it has a very nihilist answer to all of it. While watching this I felt a lot of mythology in it, feels like a Greek or a Persian tragedy.

What I've written might sound non-sense if you haven't yet seen this and have no idea what it is like but this is as much as I can do to explain this film. I think that's what makes good art: It speaks for itself...

This is one of the best love films ever made. Actually I'd call it 'the best' but some would accuse me of exaggerating but trust me it is much better than artificial and unrealistic examples of Spanish, French and Italian romance cinema. This film has a heart inside that pumps blood to every sequence of it. I think Faith Akin did a great job keeping this film organic and earthly.

There is despair, hope, love then despair and hope once again. I could easily relate to the characters. Speaking of characters, Birol Ünel is the most charismatic actor I've seen lately, he dominates the screen along with Sibel Kekilli. Sibel Kekilli is an angel, pure acting, it is unfortunate what she had to go through in real life but she is stronger than most people and she had to prove it many times. In supporting roles there is Güven Kirac, who is one of my favorite actors in Turkish cinema and Meltem Cumbul who provides good acting.

By the way despite of all the tragedy there is also ethnic humor in this film which goes hand-in-hand with the story. Especially the scenes with Birol Ünel and Guven Kirac are quite amusing, especially if you know Turkish.

Anyway, all I have to say is "I feel you, your sun it shines, I feel you within my mind, You take me there, You take me where the kingdom comes, You take me to and lead me through Babylon" ... I was riding in that car with Cahit.

Tebrikler Faith Akin, WE WANT MORE OF THESE!