VEDA Review
[Our thanks to Serdar Kökçeoğlu for the following review.]
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the founder of the Turkish Republic and as such, continues to be a delicate subject for the Turkish government and the wider society. The tales of Atatürk's life and struggles have always been presented in some form of legendary tale. This is the reason why, up to this day, certain aspects of his life remain still a mystery. Historians and artists who have been taught about Atatürk at school are taking great risks when referring to him in daily life situations, because his strong vision for a modern society made him being widely remembered as a hero. And though Mustafa Kemal's lifelong legacy was to create a well-structured republican culture, we should still be able to observe him from other angles.
When Can Dündar's cinematographic documentary 'Mustafa' hit the box office in 2008, it was a very bold attempt compared to his previous TV documentaries about Atatürk. The title itself certainly demonstrated that; by purposely choosing to name his Atatürk's biography 'Mustafa', as opposed to 'Mustafa Kemal Atatürk' or 'Mustafa Kemal' as he always used to be referred to as. It showed a clear intent to look to the man himself rather than his iconic image. In comparison to his previous work, this piece from Can Dündar was refreshingly different and impressive, especially considering that his story telling style tended to be over sensitive and over romantic. He courageously investigates Mustafa's mistakes, his hidden pains and how that created problems in his life. Predictably, extremist Kemalists did voice their anger at Dündar, outraged to be presented such an unusual portrait of their idol. And though the quality of the work itself could have been discussed, Can Dündar certainly made a big impact with this documentary, by not presenting Atatürk as a the usual all mighty legend, but rather as a normal human being; a man who took important decisions, sometimes controversial... a man who felt lonely, and even suffered.
As mentioned earlier, 'Mustafa' has been a hugely polemical film, yet a very significant step. Today's Kemalist filmmakers have produced their responses with two new movies. The first is musician, author and cinematographer Zülfü Livaneli's film entitled 'Veda', whilst the other, was only shown through advertising extracts. "Veda" tells the story of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's through his dear friend's eyes Salih Bozok. This intimate story telling could be seen as a good idea but unfortunately fails to reach its objective. Livaneli only manages to compile together Atatürk's well known life stories, as did many others. And whilst the art direction and visual effects were well executed, except maybe during the war scenes, the script is painfully lacking focus and creativity.
Salih Bozok is telling Atatürk's life stories by the leader's death bed. From the very start, he confesses that if Atatürk dies, he will put a bullet into his own heart and will die with him... which he does. This decision could have been the subject of a movie on its own; however such gesture of commitment was never explored in the film.
Zülfü Livaneli tries to respond to Dündar with this big budget film. However all he manages to do is, yet again, bringing Atatürk and his unknown mysterious sides to a near God level. Over emphasizing on his achievements, and forgetting his less glorifying actions, things that have been done again and again over the decades, he tells us to remember him as told through the history books. The only noticeable difference in this film was regarding the women in Atatürk's life. In order for him to be regarded as a leader with western ambitions, he turned his back to his first love Fikriye and got married to Europeanised woman, Latife, who conveniently speaks many languages. However forgetting Fikriye results in tragedy.
Even if 'Veda' was introduced as a fictional film, it barely feels like a cinematographic historical documentary; whereas Dündar's documentary had the feeling of a film with its fictional moments. It would be best to leave the accurate tales of a leader to documentaries, and let cinema explore the liberties of fiction. And the closest a movie has come to achieve this was 'Mustafa'.
Review by Serdar Kökçeoğlu
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the founder of the Turkish Republic and as such, continues to be a delicate subject for the Turkish government and the wider society. The tales of Atatürk's life and struggles have always been presented in some form of legendary tale. This is the reason why, up to this day, certain aspects of his life remain still a mystery. Historians and artists who have been taught about Atatürk at school are taking great risks when referring to him in daily life situations, because his strong vision for a modern society made him being widely remembered as a hero. And though Mustafa Kemal's lifelong legacy was to create a well-structured republican culture, we should still be able to observe him from other angles.
When Can Dündar's cinematographic documentary 'Mustafa' hit the box office in 2008, it was a very bold attempt compared to his previous TV documentaries about Atatürk. The title itself certainly demonstrated that; by purposely choosing to name his Atatürk's biography 'Mustafa', as opposed to 'Mustafa Kemal Atatürk' or 'Mustafa Kemal' as he always used to be referred to as. It showed a clear intent to look to the man himself rather than his iconic image. In comparison to his previous work, this piece from Can Dündar was refreshingly different and impressive, especially considering that his story telling style tended to be over sensitive and over romantic. He courageously investigates Mustafa's mistakes, his hidden pains and how that created problems in his life. Predictably, extremist Kemalists did voice their anger at Dündar, outraged to be presented such an unusual portrait of their idol. And though the quality of the work itself could have been discussed, Can Dündar certainly made a big impact with this documentary, by not presenting Atatürk as a the usual all mighty legend, but rather as a normal human being; a man who took important decisions, sometimes controversial... a man who felt lonely, and even suffered.
As mentioned earlier, 'Mustafa' has been a hugely polemical film, yet a very significant step. Today's Kemalist filmmakers have produced their responses with two new movies. The first is musician, author and cinematographer Zülfü Livaneli's film entitled 'Veda', whilst the other, was only shown through advertising extracts. "Veda" tells the story of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's through his dear friend's eyes Salih Bozok. This intimate story telling could be seen as a good idea but unfortunately fails to reach its objective. Livaneli only manages to compile together Atatürk's well known life stories, as did many others. And whilst the art direction and visual effects were well executed, except maybe during the war scenes, the script is painfully lacking focus and creativity.
Salih Bozok is telling Atatürk's life stories by the leader's death bed. From the very start, he confesses that if Atatürk dies, he will put a bullet into his own heart and will die with him... which he does. This decision could have been the subject of a movie on its own; however such gesture of commitment was never explored in the film.
Zülfü Livaneli tries to respond to Dündar with this big budget film. However all he manages to do is, yet again, bringing Atatürk and his unknown mysterious sides to a near God level. Over emphasizing on his achievements, and forgetting his less glorifying actions, things that have been done again and again over the decades, he tells us to remember him as told through the history books. The only noticeable difference in this film was regarding the women in Atatürk's life. In order for him to be regarded as a leader with western ambitions, he turned his back to his first love Fikriye and got married to Europeanised woman, Latife, who conveniently speaks many languages. However forgetting Fikriye results in tragedy.
Even if 'Veda' was introduced as a fictional film, it barely feels like a cinematographic historical documentary; whereas Dündar's documentary had the feeling of a film with its fictional moments. It would be best to leave the accurate tales of a leader to documentaries, and let cinema explore the liberties of fiction. And the closest a movie has come to achieve this was 'Mustafa'.
Review by Serdar Kökçeoğlu
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