‘Blue Eyed Giant’ on the silver screen / istanbul-bilbao

How do you know Nâzım Hikmet? Romantic, communist, a man of struggle, fragile… Anyone who knows about him will probably believe that he possesses maybe not all but at least one of these characteristics.



What everybody hopes to see in "Mavi Gözl Dev," which debuted on Friday, is on which of these identities the movie focuses on. This expectation was in fact the movie's basic problem even before it was completed. It should be admitted that having Biket İlhan as director and Metin Belgin as scenarist raised the expectations of an "ideal Nâzım" result. The movie may not be an entire success in this respect, but at least it comes close. Moreover, the movie does not capture the "human Nâzım," making for a foggy picture and a spineless plot.

Let's admit that Yetkin Dikinciler, playing the part of Nâzım, perfectly portrays the aristocratic creation of the avant-garde poet of Turkish poetry. Dolunay Soysert is also a "Piraye" who includes you in her sorrow every time you look at her. Rıza Sönmez playing Raşid (or Orhan Kemal) and Ferit Kaya as İbrahim Balaban deserve to be remembered for years for their performances. So what leaves the viewer with the feeling that something is missing if the cast is so strong? Simply the ambiguity of the movie. The scenario was rewritten eight times. The structure of the movie is sometimes sacrificed for the sake of agreeing with reality. Writings about Nâzım were so thoroughly researched that there is nothing unnecessary in the movie, but the script is not so timely.

The movie starts with Nâzım's transfer to the Bursa Jail in the beginning of 1941. It features the poet's hunger strike and subsequent amnesty which arose from the campaigns that were started for him in France over his imprisonment between 1941 and 1950. The director didn't neglect to use flashbacks to highlight the process that took Nâzım to jail, however, it is not easy to say that these flashbacks necessarily enrich the movie. The scenario not only portrays the life of the poet in jail, but also the visits by Piraye and the love triangle that arose from the visits of Münevver, the poet's cousin. Still, the viewer expects more than routine jail visits from a movie that features the darkest period of Nâzım. For example, the letters Nâzım wrote in jail could have other functions than being mise en scene. Or the director could know that many viewers would expect to see a scene in which Nâzım alone leans against the wall and cowers. We cannot gain insight into the inner world of the poet. Wouldn't it contribute to the authenticity of the movie if it also featured the time when he could not write poems in jail? For as anyone may say, there is a potential "arabesk of Nâzım" in this country and this movie, at least in the final scene, includes that arabesk approach. Let's not skip that.

Although it is far from meeting the expectations of most of us, "Mavi Gözlü Dev" is tolerable as it is the first movie ever to feature the life of a contemporary Turkish poet. Without expecting a masterpiece, you can watch the story of a poet. The movie leaves the viewer with somber sentiments. Though it may not be clear whether these stem from the life story of Nâzım Hikmet or the movie falling under the mark.

10.03.2007
M. İLHAN ATILGAN İSTANBUL
istanbul-bilbao