And now we finally come to Turkey.

Because it has been hard to find anything.

Kinda like the theme of this film:  Dry Summer.

About water, but about brothers.

Tigris and Euphrates.  Starting in Turkey.

And meandering down to Mesopotamia.

Two men and one woman.

Not unlike Knife in the Water.

Back to water again.

Our director was Metin Erksan who died in 2012.

But here he does a very good job with the characters he has.

Indeed, Susuz Yaz won the prestigious Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Hülya Koçyiğit played the beautiful Bahar.

Bahar is playful…perfuming herself and letting her lover catch her in the corn field.

This was Hülya Koçyiğit’s first film.

And then there is the schlub villain (played by Erol Taş).

His mustache is key.  Yes, he is a big brute of a man.

And he causes problems every day in every way.

But do we sympathize with him?

Sure!

In fact, our film was based on a novel by Necati Cumalı.  He grew up in Urla close to İzmir.

There are really some fantastic moments in this movie.

But I must admit:  it was hard to watch.

Some of it is very beautiful.

I love the Turkish music!  And Erol Taş riding on a donkey while barefoot.

I guess they are growing tobacco.

But one thing is for sure:  the neighbors are pissed off.

That’s the downside to living downstream.

Dams!

And so there is a social commentary here.

Osman (Erol Taş) is a greedy man.

Actually, he’s a complete jerk.

But there are some humanizing things about him.

He seems bitter.

But then to look at what his brother has, there is reason for bitterness.

A beautiful wife.

Whom Osman covets.

I must also admit that I was exhausted when I watched this.

But most of all, I am happy to have finally reviewed a Turkish film.

I hope to review another soon!

 

-PD