Magic Carpet Ride

A Turkish comedy set in Istanbul. Asım Noyan heads a crew that steals cars. Their methods are prepared: they stage accidents, use fake police identification, and take the car from its owner's hands. Everyone on the team has a separate role. Then a problem arises. Stealing a car, the crew realise there is a man inside. He is trying to kill himself, having lost his job and his life. Asım takes him onto the team. The humour comes from the relations inside the crew and from unprepared situations in the streets of Istanbul. The dialogue is in the director's known manner: fast, full of wordplay and built on types. There is something underneath as well: most of these characters did not choose this work; they are here because they could not do anything else. Yılmaz Erdoğan wrote, directed and played Asım Noyan. Demet Akbağ, Tolga Çevik and Özgü Namal are in the cast. It was among the most-watched productions of its year in Turkey and a sequel followed. One of the period's best-loved examples for anyone who likes Turkish comedy and humour built on character types. For a viewer who wants restraint, the pacing is loose and some passages play like sketches.