Yol

Yol (Turkish for "The Road" or "The Way") is a 1982 Turkish film directed by Yılmaz Güney. The screenplay was written by Güney, and it was directed by his assistant Şerif Gören, who strictly followed Güney's instructions, as Güney was in prison at the time. Later, when Güney escaped from prison, he took the negatives of the film to Switzerland and later edited it in Paris. As a result, the film was selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 55th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

The film is a portrait of Turkey in the aftermath of the 1980 Turkish coup d'état: its people and its authorities are shown via the stories of five prisoners given a week's home leave. The film has caused much controversy in Turkey, and was banned until 1999 due to Yılmaz Güney's involvement rather than its content.

Plot

Yol tells the story of several prisoners on furlough in Turkey. Seyit Ali (Tarık Akan) travels to his house and finds that his wife (Şerif Sezer) has betrayed him and works as a prostitute. She was caught by her family and held captive for Seyit Ali to end her life in an honor killing. Though apparently determined at first, he changes his mind when his wife starts to freeze while travelling in the snow. Despite his efforts to keep her alive, he eventually fails. His wife's death relieves Seyit Ali from family pressure and he is saved from justice since she freezes but he has an internal struggle and must return to jail.

Tarık Akan

Tarık Akan (born as Tarık Tahsin Üregül on 13 December 1949, Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish film actor and producer who has been active since the 1970s. The first film in 1971, began his acting career with Emine. Has become one of the most handsome player at a time Yeşilçam'ın.

Biography

Tarık Akan was born as Tarık Üregül in Istanbul in 1949. His family was constantly moving around Turkey due to his father's occupation in the military. Before he started his acting career he worked as a lifeguard at beaches and at a boat renting place. He received a degree in mechanical engineering at Yıldız Technical University. He entered a contest of a famous magazine called Ses ("Voice") and ended up runner up. He studied acting under the eye of famous Turkish film director Ertem Eğilmez.

He made his film debut in 1970 at the age of 21 in Vefasız. At first, most of his roles were in romantic comedies. Later in his career, he has taken on more political and dramatic roles. He has acted in a total of 110 films to date and has won numerous awards from various festivals including Cannes and Berlin. He won an Honourable Mention at the 35th Berlin International Film Festival for his role in Pehlivan.

Yılmaz Güney

Yılmaz Güney (born Yılmaz Pütün, 1 April 1937 – 9 September 1984) was a Zaza and Kurdish film director, scenarist, novelist, and actor from Turkey. Many of his works were devoted to the plight of ordinary, working class people in Turkey. Yılmaz Güney won the Palme d'Or with the film Yol he co-produced with Şerif Gören at Cannes Film Festival in 1982.

Background

Yılmaz Güney was born in 1937 in the Yenice county of Adana. His father was Zaza from Siverek and his mother was Kurd from Varto. His parents migrated to Adana to work as cotton field laborers. As a result of his family background, young Yılmaz grew among the working class. This was a strong background for his future works which generally focused on a realistic portrayal of downtrodden and marginalized strata of the population in the country. Güney studied law and economics at the universities of Ankara and Istanbul, but by the age of 21 he found himself actively involved in film-making.

Career in Turkey

As Yeşilçam, the Turkish studio system, a handful of directors, including Atıf Yılmaz, began to use cinema as a means of addressing the problems of the people. State-sanctioned melodramas, war films, and play adaptations had mostly previously been played in Turkish theaters. These new filmmakers began to shoot and screen more realistic pictures of Turkish/Kurdish life. Yılmaz Güney was one of the most popular names to emerge from this trend, a gruff-looking young actor who earned the moniker Çirkin Kral ("the Ugly King" in Turkish) or "parşay naşirîn" in Kurdish (Sorani dialect). After working as an apprentice screenwriter for and assistant to Atıf Yılmaz, Güney soon began appearing in as many as 20 films a year and became Turkey's one of the most popular actors.