Naked Citizen

Başar Sabuncu's 1985 film describes the collapse of a civil servant in the Turkey of the eighties. İbrahim is a low-ranking government employee with four children and a fifth on the way, staying afloat on extra work. One day the weight breaks him: he undresses and starts running down the street. When the press catches the story he becomes nationally known overnight, receiving advertising offers, being put on programmes and turned into a symbol of poverty. From there the film's humour hardens, and its real target is not his helplessness but the press and advertising machinery that sells it. The criticism of the period's economic policy is open and direct. Şener Şen gives a measured performance without falling back on comic form. Who it's for: viewers who like Turkish cinema of the eighties and social satire. Who it's not for: anyone expecting light comedy; the film darkens towards the end.