Lovelorn

After thirty years teaching in the east, Nazım retires and returns to Istanbul. He is estranged from his daughter, does not know his grandchild and cannot sit still at home; he starts driving a friend's taxi at night. He gives a lift home to Dünya, who sings in a nightclub. Her former husband is after her and he listens to nobody. The subject is not love but doing good never being enough to save anyone. Nazım acts on a teacher's reflex: explaining, persuading, protecting. The ending shows the limit of that method, and Yavuz Turgul refuses to comfort the audience there. The form sets two lives side by side: Istanbul at night and the east returning through letters. News from Nazım's former students forms the second line, and it ties the personal story to something wider. Şener Şen carries the film. He won best actor at the 42nd Golden Orange festival, and Timuçin Esen, who plays Dünya's former husband, was named best supporting actor at the same festival. The film was submitted as Turkey's Oscar entry that year and was seen by 898,000 people in cinemas. Meltem Cumbul plays Dünya. Who it is for: viewers who like Yavuz Turgul's cinema and Şener Şen. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a happy ending; the film stops somewhere bitter on purpose.