The Bandit

A bandit released after thirty-five years in prison learns that his village is under a reservoir. He goes to Istanbul to look for the friend who informed on him and the woman he has been waiting for. The film builds its revenge story through an encounter with the city; the narrative shows in every scene that his rules no longer work, and does so without making him ridiculous. The bond he forms with a young criminal is the second main line. Yavuz Turgul wrote and directed, with Sener Sen and Ugur Yucel. It was one of the productions that brought audiences back to Turkish cinema after a long gap and opened the way for the films that followed. A real warning: there is gun violence, drugs and coercion of a woman. The ending is heavy.