Blog posts

HayalKahvem

2011.06.14

I had read about White as Snow, the screen adaptation of Sabahattin Ali’s story Ayran, on Ters Ninja. I recommend you read it. The film has a surprise in store.

The comment I wrote on Tersninja:

Hello landlord,

At last White as Snow has come to our city. I went to the cinema smiling. I watched the film with interest. Watching a film full of snowy landscapes on a hot summer day is really rather nice.

I’m someone who loves comics, Zagor above all. In one scene of White as Snow, the film’s hero, little Hasan, is holding a Zagor comic, remember? There’s even the moment when the Zagor slips out of Hasan’s hand and falls into the river. Oh, the pain of it. Remember how, on the blog Zagor’un Sözü Bu, Sıtkı Sıyrıl, describing pain, writes about the suffering of a Zagor lover and says the best description of pain is a comic book adventure left unfinished? When the Zagor slipped out of his hand, I understood that Hasan was feeling that same pain. And to be honest, the director and the actor pass that same pain on to the audience too.

Sabahattin Ali died in 1948. Zagor, as far as I know, was first published in 1961. It came to our country in 1962. At first I wondered what Zagor was doing in this film, since it was an adaptation of a story Sabahattin Ali wrote in the 1940s. Then I remembered that the film is set in the 1970s. The golden years of comics in our country, of course. I really admired Selim Güneş for it. What a good idea. He gave the film a dash of comic book flavour, bitter though it was.

With its wonderful images the film already had a bitter flavour, didn’t it? I mean the pain suffered in wars, arrests, disasters, earthquakes and so on by those who are truly left behind, the ones we don’t want to see: children and women.

More than the film itself, I loved Selim Güneş’s outlook on life.
I will follow with interest what the director has done and will do.

I wanted to let Comic Book Lovers know about this…

*****

hayalikahraman

2011.05.19

A film whose scenes turn into a visual feast, and which reminded me of Bal. An Anatolian drama that emphasises the notion of class.

Adapted from Sabahattin Ali’s story Ayran. Films with Anatolian drama themes deal with forbidden love and, lately, with identity. This is a film concerned with socio-economic issues. One of the recent films to touch on this subject was Pazar, bir ticaret masalı. That film told very well the story of an Anatolian merchant’s journey of becoming (or failing to become) a capitalist.

The film’s main character is a child of 7 or 8 (Hasan) who has taken on the responsibility of looking after his siblings at a young age. The responsibility he has taken on is not only about having to work. Hasan’s mother, who looks after the mother of the town’s mayor, comes home one day a week. The film recounts the child’s journey, alone in that cold weather, to the village coffeehouse and the bus stop to sell ayran. Hasan’s adventure is woven now from childish games, now from courage and a sense of responsibility. Preparing breakfast for his siblings before leaving the house was the scene of responsibility. A breakfast of nothing but ayran and a piece of bread, and since there wasn’t enough bread left at home, Hasan split the remaining bread in two and left it on the tray. Hasan left the house without eating anything while his siblings slept. As soon as he stepped out of the door, Hasan became a child again. The games he played on his own along the way, his dialogue with the jug, the tearful look on his face when he dropped his comic. When he reached the stop, Hasan grew up again.

There wasn’t even any bread left at home. He had to sell the ayran. That is why he waited until dark. Even from the bread given to him by the young man who minds the coffeehouse, he took a piece and put it in his pocket. He saved it for his siblings. A tiny body shouldering a heavy responsibility without the slightest complaint… Night fell, and Hasan clung to the pocketknife he had inherited from his father against the wolves surrounding him. Great courage in a tiny body… Selim Güneş tells the short, deeply meaningful journey of a big heart in a tiny body, leavening it with unique natural beauty. A film that must be seen.

*****

aylakadamiz

2011.05.13

Now let’s come to ‘White as Snow’, a ‘Selim Güneş’ film that tells the story of ‘Hasan’, who tries to sell ayran come snow or winter to help his family… ‘White as Snow’ is a film adapted from the story ‘Ayran’ by ‘Sabahattin Ali’… I think it is the first directing effort of ‘Selim Güneş’… With this film, shot in harsh winter conditions in Artvin, director Selim Güneş has made a good start in the world of cinema… With unknown amateur actors he has made an excellent film out of a very difficult story… When I watched it, I kicked myself for having missed this film too… The snowy forest scenes in particular were spellbinding… The father of ‘Hasan’ is arrested after his own neighbour informs on him for being involved in a political incident… His mother, meanwhile, does the housework on weekdays at the home of a public official in the district town… ‘Hasan’, who looks after his two siblings at home all week, sells ayran to travellers at a rest stop on the district road some distance away, even in snowy weather, to help the household… Every morning ‘Hasan’ walks the hard road to the rest stop in freezing weather with his jug of ayran in hand, and longs for the weekend when his mother comes home… But his longing for his mother does not end when the weekend comes… ‘Hasan’, already suffering greatly from his father’s absence, burns with longing for his mother too… I definitely recommend you watch this film as well… And let us not forget to thank everyone who worked on the film from here…

*****

OFF_FRAME

Stunning, poetic, visually arresting and I still have no idea what it was all about below the surface… time to research turkey circa 1970. Set in the black sea region in the mountains where life is basic and a constant struggle. The sumptuous cinematography really works for this where others may have gone down a grungier route. The film is almost like a long poem, especially only clocking in at 77 mins 4 stars.

*****

pelisplus3

Nine-year-old Hasan, whose father is in prison and whose mother has to travel every day to a distant town for work, must look after his younger siblings and help his mother financially by selling ayran to winter travellers… This first work by director Selim Güneş, regarded as one of the most talented Turkish photographers, has a powerful visual gift. A delicate drama about a child struggling to survive, hour by hour, on a cold winter day.

*****

Telerama vodkaster

Nine-year-old Hasan, whose father is in prison and whose mother has to travel every day to a distant town for her work, must look after his younger siblings and help his mother by selling drinks to tired travellers. The first feature film by Selim Güneş, internationally recognised as one of the most talented Turkish photographers of his generation, this film reveals with dramatic beauty the delicate story of a child struggling to survive on an endless, freezing ‘winter’ day…

*****

49/51 Film

“Kar Beyaz,” inspired by Sabahattin Ali’s short story Ayran, portrays the tragic tale of Hasan, a young boy from a mountain village. The film captures a single day in his life, weaving themes of longing, regret, and an enduring sense of hope. One winter morning, Hasan sets off with a jug of ayran, hoping to sell it at a roadside tea house—surrounded by the weight of his emotions. With the breathtaking landscapes of Artvin, poetic cinematography, and understated performances, the film stands as a masterful work. Director Selim Güneş beautifully translates the melancholic and bittersweet essence of Ali’s storytelling onto the screen.