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Turkish Film 4 (Released in 1990 - 1995)
Umuda Yolculuk 
English Title: Journey of Hope (German Title: Reise der Hoffnung)
Directed by: Xavier Koller
Running Time: 1h 39min
Released in: 1990
This film is a co-production of three countries: Switzerland, Turkey and the UK, directed by a Swiss director. The story depicts the journey of a Turkish (Kurdish) family who tries to illegally immigrate to Switzerland from a poor village in Turkey.
Haydar lives in a village in Eastern Turkey with his aged parents, wife and 7 kids, suffering from poverty. Then, he receives a postcard from one of his relatives who moved to Switzerland a while ago. Inspired by his success, Haydar decides to go there in search of a better life, in spite of the family's opposition. He convinces his wife, and she finally agrees with reluctance to take only one child with them. Haydar sells their livestock and small property to come up with the money for travel expenses. He pays a large sum of money to suspicious brokers, and the three set out on a "journey of hope." They stow away on a transport ship to Naples and hitchhike on a truck to Milan. The truck driver is a friendly guy and nice to their little kid, Ali. They are denied entry to Switzerland, and alien smugglers force them to cross the Alpine(!) with fellow illegal immigrants under bad weather. Without a guide and proper equipment, they risk their lives to cross the border, but it comes to a tragic end. In the last scene, Haydar says to the truck driver who comes to see him at jail, "I wanted to be friends with you...," and he puts his head down.
I was left speechless for a while after seeing this film. Perhaps, it's easy to criticize that Haydar is too gullible and naive, but we have to focus on the background that got him cornered to such extent that he got out of his country.
Benim Sinemalarım
English Title: My Cinemas
Directed by: Füruzan, Gülsün Karamustafa
Running Time: 1h 45min
Released in: 1990
The first sequence in the movie is good. It raises expectations that this would be a good film. However, it turns out to be disappointing. The last scene is expecially terrible. I still can't understand what their intention was.
This is a story of a young woman who is a film addict, set in the town of Istanbul in 1960's. Nesibe lives with her parents and is frustrated with the poor life with no way out. She thinks that working hard from early morning till night does not bring her anything. Seeing a movie is the only joy and comfort in her humble life. She dreams of going to "somewhere but here" where she can create her life on her own. Then, she has an affair with an old rich man (for money?) and also begins to go out with a young man from the military academy. I can understand that she has a sense of stagnation, but its portrayal of her thoughts and feelings is not enough. Anyway, I am not impressed by the story at all.
