The Way Home: The Films of Turkish Master Yilmaz Güney

The Freer and Sackler Galleries | The Way Home: 

The Films of Turkish Master Yilmaz Güney

A master of startling imagery, vigorous storytelling, and political commitment, Yilmaz Güney (1937–1984) is a legendary figure in Turkish cinema and undoubtedly the best-known and most controversial filmmaker the country has produced to date. Copresented with the Goethe-Institut in Washington, DC, this retrospective traces Güney’s remarkable career trajectory, from a popular leading man to a filmmaker so politically dangerous the Turkish authorities threw him in prison.  This retrospective was organized by Erju Ackman. Special thanks to the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Turkish Culture and Tourism Counselor’s Office, Washington, DC; Hüseyin Karabey, The Güney Foundation; and Erju Ackman, Turkish Cinema Newsletter. This series features new 35mm prints provided by the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture and Tourism—General Directorate of Copyright and Cinema/Telif Haklari ve Sinema Genel Müdürlügü, Dr. Abdurrahman Çelik, General Director. WEEK OF SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2012 SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2012 The Hungry Wolves/Aç kurtlar Sunday, May 6, 2 pm Both hunter and hunted, a bandit (Güney) lives in a desolate snowscape, beautifully captured in stark black-and-white cinematography. Though he seems invincible, the bandit becomes increasingly desperate to protect his family from his enemies. The film’s emotive musical score recalls Ennio Morricone as surely as its tale of revenge recalls Sergio Leone. Indeed, the stoic, tightlipped determination of Güney’s bandit seems modeled after Clint Eastw… The Poor/Zavallilar Sunday, May 6, 3:30 pm Like so many of Güney’s subsequent films, The Poor is about prisoners. The film opens on a winter night as three convicts are released. A complex structure of flashbacks describes how they came to be imprisoned, revealing that their lives have been marked with betrayal, degradation, and violence stemming from their poverty. At the same time, the film follows the men through the night as they are faced with reentering society. Production of The… FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2012

WEEK OF SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012

FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2012


The Friend/Arkadas
Friday, May 11, 7 pm
Of all of Güney’s films, The Friend most resembles a European art film. Güney focuses on alienation among the Turkish middle classes by contrasting their empty lives with the struggles of the peasantry. At a seaside resort, a wealthy aristocrat from an impoverished small town finds himself reunited with a childhood friend, played by Güney.
In his directorial role, Güney constructs an Antonionian malaise out of the glassy surfaces of the resort’s…SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012

Bride of the Earth/Seyit Han Sunday, May 20, 2 pm The first film that Güney acknowledged as a fully realized effort,Bride of the Earth stars the director himself as a man separated from his bride-to-be by the superstitions and feudal conditions of rural life. The film’s attention to poverty as a barrier to happiness and personal aspiration presages Güney’s more overtly political work. Baroque, almost Bosch-like touches—a woman trapped in a wicker cage; a man in quicksand up to his…

Elegy/Agit Sunday, May 20, 3:30 pm Güney stars as one of four smugglers living and working in a desolate, mountainous region. The macho braggadocio and violence of the men (reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch) is contrasted with the quiet determination of a doctor who ministers to the impoverished villagers as best as she can. Although the film is apparently a step back from the political neorealism of Hope towards the rough lyricism of Bride of the Earthand The Hungry…