Turkish cinema has been spoiled for good comedy lately. The wave that started with Aile Arasında and Ölümlü Dünya has washed away the hangover from cheap laugh tracks and quietly raised the bar.
Then Ailecek Şaşkınız arrived last Friday and, frankly, shoved that bar into the stratosphere. It is the kind of film that leaves your jaw aching. 🙂
I caught it Sunday at 8 p.m. at Cevahir. For the first time in a long while the front row was sold out and the air conditioning could not keep up with the crowd. That is what “sold out” actually looks like.
Between the teaser and the trailer, the story already had people curious. For me, the veteran duo Ahmet Kural and Murat Cemcir, plus Selçuk Aydemir’s writing and direction, already make it one of the year’s best. Without spoilers, here is how it landed.
Script
Selçuk Aydemir is one of the sharpest pens working right now. He can make every corner of the audience laugh and still land a message that sticks. Series, films, books: he keeps filling the calendar. If only he could write forever and leave the next generation even stronger work. (Yes, I am gushing.)
Hırçın Kız: Ferhat'ın atı, yumuşak karnı. 🐎 Onun başına gelenler, İsviçre dağlarındaki ineklerin başına gelmemiştir. 😂 Maceramızda yeri büyük. Kendi de öyle… #AilecekŞaşkınız pic.twitter.com/9MQ0a2Zp1E
— Ailecek Şaşkınız (@aileceksaskiniz) February 21, 2018
Ailecek Şaşkınız comes from that same pen. As a picky viewer, story gaps usually drive me nuts. Here Aydemir again writes something you can ride without catching on the seams, and he is ruthless about the laughs. From start to finish the room was laughing; I know people who will still feel it in their jaws the next morning.
The story follows Ferhat, the boss’s son trying to run the LSI group after his father’s retirement, and Gökhan, the friend who never leaves his side. Funny when it needs to be, sentimental when it should be. Ferhat, who never does a kindness for free, meets the striking commissioner Elif and starts to change, and you watch that shift while laughing hard.
For the nearly two hours it takes from your life, the film pays you back in full. Full marks from me.
Performances
Ahmet Kural and Murat Cemcir keep pushing comedy a step further. After Çalgı Çengi 2, this film fills the gap. Kural’s ambitious, handsome Ferhat feels almost like him playing himself. Cemcir gives life to Gökhan, Ferhat’s lifelong sidekick. Even when the plot centers Ferhat, the supporting cast keeps the two hours lively.
Cengiz Bozkurt, our familiar Erdal Bakkal, shows up again as small-business energy. Saadet Işıl Aksoy plays Elif, the skilled (and, smiles aside, beautiful) commissioner.
Muzaffer: Serap’ın tatlı belası, mahallenin esnafı, paraya hiç(!) değer vermez 😂 Damadının servetini, kızının mürüvvetini düşünen adam gibi bir adam 👊 #AilecekŞaşkınız #CengizBozkurt pic.twitter.com/ilVOkccHpv
— Ailecek Şaşkınız (@aileceksaskiniz) February 25, 2018
Locations
Aydemir pairs the script with sharp location choices. Setting the whole film in Bursa pulls us out of Istanbul’s chaos and into a city next door. Scene transitions lean on Bursa’s own details, which feels like giving the city its due. He does this well in every film.
Music
The folk-song tradition from Kural and Cemcir’s other work continues: Haydar Haydar, the Keloğlan tune, Sie Liegt In Meinen Armen, Entarisi Dım Dım Yar, Yumurtanın Sarısı, Çıldır Çıldır, and now the new earworm “Yarada Kurban.” Their clip for that song has A Capella Boğaziçi along for the ride.
Soundtrack picks and in-film cues both earn full marks from the room. Someone will write a negative take eventually; I do not have one yet. I already want another screening so I can catch the details Aydemir hides in the frames.
