My Aunt

Üftade is a young woman. Her family constantly intervenes and she is not allowed to marry the man she loves. Something happens, and after it Üftade is counted as ill; the family speaks of her as someone who has had treatment, who needs rest, who must be handled carefully. Years pass. Her nephew grows up and tries to understand his aunt; what he is told and what he sees do not match. The narrative runs on two times: the woman's youth and her present state are given in alternation. Halit Refiğ directs. Müjde Ar plays Üftade. The matter it works at is how mental illness is constructed inside a family; the narrative asks not about the diagnosis but about whom the diagnosis serves. Müjde Ar was among the best known actors in Turkish cinema at the time and this is one of the most cited parts of her career. The point of view sits with the nephew, and that choice matters; the viewer too knows the woman only as far as others describe her. Refiğ was among the names inside the argument over national cinema in Turkey, and this is one of his late works. The period reconstruction is detailed; the order of the household, the ties of kinship and the room a woman has to move in are shown directly. The narrative gives no settled answer at the end and what Üftade is stays open. Who it is for: viewers who like the eighties period of Turkish cinema and drama centred on women. Who it is not for: the pace is slow, the narrative loose, and the technical quality carries the limits of its time.