FAMILY LIFE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART : "CAN"

You all know by now, that from time to time, I like giving Turkish films a bit of a plug. And I was especially pleased when this little number actually got an award from the Sundance film festival this year – the jury special award no less. Not that a film needs to have an award to be good, oh now. Like most people, I believe that there is some unfairness going on in the allocation. In addition to that, there are a lot of good films and only so many awards. So, the difference may be about the width of a gnat’s eyebrow, the end result may well be that the film ends up without an award. In short, I am glad Can got award. It thoroughly deserved it. Back in the day, melodramas and comedies of much the same ilk (including cultural differences of course) as the British “Carry on” films were just about all Turkish cinema could / chose to produce. This has changed over recent years thankfully and there is a lot more choice and variety in the output. But this does not mean, however, that neither melodramas nor comedies should be sneezed at. Can is a perfect example to this. The film is, without doubt or discussion, a melodrama. It doesn’t have anything corny, cheesy or just generally “stale” about it though. It is a modern melodrama, very much set in our day and dealing with the problems of our times. Even though, bizarrely enough, the story is not that “new” at all. Can is the name of a little boy. But before we get to him we must meet Ayşe and Cemal. They are a poor couple, obviously from rural Turkey, who have moved to Istanbul with big dreams. And these dreams include a family. However, disappointment quickly mounts when doctors inform them that Cemal is infertile and that he cannot have children. The couple is distraught, especially Cemal, who both really wanted to start a family and considers this condition a slur on his manhood. There is only one solution – to adopt. This adoption however, must be carried out in the strictest secrecy. Ayşe must, for nine months, pretend she is pregnant. Everyone must think that Can is their own little boy. The adoption – that consists basically of buying a baby of a poor family that cannot afford to keep him – takes place and Can comes home. And although Cemal is ecstatic about the new addition to the family, Ayşe finds herself completely unable to warm to the child… The tension in the little house grows and grows until it pushes all our characters to a point from which there is no return… As I said, this film is a melodrama, there is no discussing that. The overflow of feelings, the dramatic events, the sadness all pervade the film and give it its own air of melancholy. However, what makes it different from your common or garden melodrama is the fact that it uses very modern tropes and modern character building with these rather classic elements. Neither Cemal nor Ayşe is painted in black or white, and this may seem like a given in modern cinema but we have to remember it is not necessarily the case. Especially in a genre like melodrama where we are used to the “pure hearted mother” vs a possible “femme fatale” or alternatively a hard – hearted man who wants to take advantage of her. Here we see something that we are not really used to seeing : the mother – classically the nurturing, caring one – rejects the child (for a very long time I might add) and the father – typically the cold and heartless one - looks after the boy, changes his nappies and cares for him. In second place, not only are the characters more realistic and further from the norms of the genre, they also develop. They learn and they change and they do so in a realistic fashion, not in the rather abrupt way characters tend to “grow” – fitted neatly into 90 – 120 minute slots (although I cannot tell you how this happens without also handing out some quite serious spoilers, so you’ll have to watch and find out for yourselves hehe). I know that some people think melodramas are too corny, too cheesy or just plain too sad. But if you want to see a modern, up to date version of the genre that showcases some great cinematography and some brilliant actin to boot, I’d say don’t be put off by the quite foreign language and give Can a whirl. Those who are a bit more familiar with Turkish cinema will find it even more interesting because I found – as someone who found the “old school” melodramas borderline unwatchable – this film was a great experience and a big development in Turkish cinema. And this alone makes it worth watching…