secilicel Reviews

Chiko (2008)

Chiko, Youth Violence, etc.

[20 April 2008]

Berlinale was full of surprises this year. The festival program was read through again and again, but still the selection of films was difficult like before, randomness was the easiest way, so my pre-made film list looked quite different at the end. In the Panorama section of the festival, I came across Özgür Yildirim's feature film debut Chiko, produced by Faith Akin. His name created an urge to see the film as I am deeply interested in the Transnational German Cinema.

Özgür Yildirim is a young director from Hamburg. He tells a dark story about loyalty, friendship, rage, revenge, drugs, passion and alienation in a youth gang in Hamburg. The main character Isa Cakiroglu (Denis Moschitto) is called Chiko by his friend circle in Hamburg. This circle is made up of young people with migration background, speaking the famous sociolect. They like action, excitement, fame, expensive cars and especially power. Of course, money is the key in order to get the things they dream of. Money is power, money is respect.

It is quite clear that Özgür Yildirim was inspired by films like Scarface, Goodfellas and Reservoir dogs. „Chiko" has a high tempo; it proceeds too quickly without characterization of figures and ends like other films of that genre. Furthermore, the film uses too many clichés about young immigrants, which the audience from this side of the world apparently enjoys.

Still, Denis Moschitto fits very well with his own charm and masculinity; Volkan Özcan as the loser one and Reyhan Sahin are very promising as new faces. Moritz Bleibtreu is fascinating as usual.

In the discussion after the premiere at the Berlinale; Özgür Yildirim, Volkan Özcan and some of the crew were on the stage to answer the questions. The director is a smart, enthusiastic, witty person. The overall reaction of the audience was positive; people enjoyed the funny dialogues. A person in the second row came up with the idea that violence in the film may cause more violence among the young people. The "violence" theme and especially violence among young people with migration background is quite popular nowadays. Do such films really have a negative effect on young people? The answer came from one of the back rows: These guys are not presented as heroes to be admired; why should anyone be bothered seeing such nice, hot guys on the screen? Public premiere tickets of Chiko at the Zoo Palast were sold out quickly and the film created a lot of excitement among the audience. To my mind, it is enough reason to go and see this film.

The Wall (1983)

A gripping political film by Yilmaz Guney.. A must to see!

[10/10 · 31 July 2007]

"Duvar" is certainly my favorite Yilmaz Güney film after "Umut" (Hope). The director mainly tries to describe the prison conditions in Turkey after coup d'état in 1980. Being very political himself, he draws a dark picture of a Turkish prison where most people are stuck because of their political activities.

Here we see men, women and children living in different sections; but we are confronted with the tragic story of children, while the adults have to watch them anxiously behind the windows. In their attempt to change to another prison for better conditions; the children try petition, escape and mutiny. In return, they are faced with continuous beating, harassment and even death. In their section, there is never good food, enough bread or water for bathing. In the film, the only likable person is the guardian "Áli Emmi" (Tuncel Kurtiz), who gets his prize by being humiliated and getting fired at the end.

Güney's dark film shifts between (many) bad and (some) good experiences in the prison context, which makes keeps the audience always interested. He uses some interesting techniques and many references to the political context of early 80's Turkey, which makes the film gripping, especially for the contemporaries.

The Third Page (1999)

A reflection on people on the other side of life...powerful and worth seeing!

[9/10 · 26 July 2007]

I can surely say that this film is the most impressive of Zeki Demirkubuz's films ("Innocence" is also very good, though. Hard to make a decision between these two, I guess.).

Shortly, a young guy from the suburbs, without many expectations from life, struggles against all the hardships that come up "just" to survive, while life is constantly overwhelming him in the most brutal way, leaving no way out in the end, but suicide as there is no "third page" or let's say, no possibility of new beginnings in this context, where one is doomed to be in perpetual poverty, trouble and anguish.

Demirkubuz creates an excellent dramatic atmosphere, which is realistic in the sense that the film reflects another face of Turkish context (whether some like it or not, yeah, it is real. Nevertheless, it should not be generalized) through its strong main characters as well as its suburban background. Besides, it is obviously self-reflective in the shooting scenes of a Turkish TV series.

Of course, you will not find much nihilism or absurd-ism like in "Yazgi", and you are not supposed to. However, you will certainly find the sincere reflection of the lives of many "little" people living among us, mostly being unnoticed, and in a sense, it could be helpful to raise our awareness of people on the other side of life.