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Reviews
Seytan (1974)
Unnecessary Repetition
This movie is an attempt to make use of a script, which was already turned into a masterpiece by William Friedkin only a year ago in 1973. To make things worse, they had only a tiny budget for this remake and well, I'm sure that the producers of this movie had made some money at the end, yet it was a useless risk for the big director Metin Erksan, who had won the Golden Bear in Berlin with his 1964 movie Susuz Yaz (Reflections).
If you are a fan of The Exorcist you probably should watch it, yet for others, it will probably only be a waste of time. It is not so funny either, so if you attempt to watch it for a few laughs, in many cases you will just end up being bored. There are some Ed Wood/Cetin Inanc type low- budget B-movie mistakes in this one as well, yet someone has to point them out, so maybe you should invite some friends over to share this ridiculous experience, or maybe a talk-show host should examine the movie with the help of a studio audience, and in Turkey that was actually done for this movie ;)
Midnight Express (1978)
This movie is a scandal
I live in Turkey. I speak Turkish. The book I'm reading now is the Turkish translation of Ulysses. I'm a rocker. I listen to some American and English bands, which most of the American and English rockers have never heard of yet. And by the way I'm one of the best science-fiction authors and song writers of all time, you'll hear about me in a few years :) Also I'm a funny guy, better than most stand-up comedians. I'm from Turkey.
We, the Turks, are modern people. We have the best poets, stand-up comedians and barbers in the world! Beautiful girls, sun, snow, shadows and dust: The most beautiful city of the world: Istanbul! (or call it whatever you want, Konstantinapolis or something)
Most of the Turkish women don't hide their hair like most Arabs do. And they are beautiful! (So are the Arabic and Indian girls, or all women let's say) When a few years ago you asked me about the beauty of Indian girls, I would say "Well.. You know.. Easterners.." I was a kid than. As fascist as a kid! (Or AS HIS OR HER PARENTS! The hidden thoughts..) But we surely have some beautiful girls here. (By the way I'm in love with one of them. Green eyes.. Blond.. But she does not love me. And I'm afraid, she never will :((( )
This movie is a scandal. There's nothing about Turkey and Turkish people in this movie. I'm not talking about the usage of light or things like that, which are also 'not so well-done', I'm only talking about the 'meaning' of the movie. This movie is disgusting. They despise the word 'Turk' in this movie. My beautiful mother is a Turk, my funny father is a Turk, my beautiful and funny sister is a Turk, all my friends are Turks, all my lovers, all the people I see everyday, in the bus, in subways, in night clubs and bars, they are Turks, those nice people, THE PEOPLE I mean, not Turks, actually they are human beings, human beings.. After seeing this movie I just don't believe in anything in those Hollywood movies about South American countries or whatever.. And the anger of my youth whispers to my ears: "Make movies like this about US and some European countries!"
Or should I say other European countries?! You know, United States is in Europe, or isn't it? After all Turkey is an Arabic country! :)))
Most people which comment on this movie in these pages are Greek people. I just don't understand why.. Most probably these are fascists and most Greeks don't think in that way. I guess this is the truth, because we the people in Turkey don't even think about Greek people and actually we don't care, except few people who are interested in politics. Newspapers seldom write something about Greece. The only thing which may interest us can be their art, their history or the scientific improvements they make.
Or maybe the Greek girls.. (OK, don't misunderstand this now! :))) )
This is a movie about Turkey and that's why I wrote about some facts about Turkey when I commented on this movie. I personally enjoyed this movie when I watched it, the sounds the so called 'Turkish people' made and everything! But I just can't stand the thought that the people who watch this movie really believe that this really is a movie about Turkey, even if they are Americans, you know ;) This is unacceptable! An insult to Turkish, the language that our poets use, the language of Orhan Pamuk's or Yasar Kemal's books. An insult to the most beautiful (and yes, the most dangerous, but not in that way) city of the world, an insult to Istanbul.
Disgusting.
And you really believe in this s***, don't you?
Well, well, well, my droogies!