Hejar - Großer Mann, kleine Liebe

The beginning of the movie involves Turkish police brutally murdering the family of a little girl (Hejar). This is very well done and got me riveted. The girl then escapes and is found by a neighboring retired judge (Rifat). The rest of the movie is the story of their difficult adjustment after this tragic affair. She is Kurd. He is Turk. He doesn't want her. She wants her mommy. The danger is lurking. He tries to make her blend in. He tries to teach her Turkish. She curses at him. They form an awkward bond.

Well, the question is: do you like this interaction? I personally got a bit tired of it. I found the little girl frankly annoying and thought the story was not moving along fast enough. Not to say that it wasn't cute and interesting. There was just not enough meat around the bone. A bit too simple. Not overly funny or touching. Ordinary.

I think this movie deserves a lot more credit once viewed within the context of modern turkey. without this context, the movie may seem like your run of the mill gruff-old-man-meets-cute-little-girl-and-sheds-rough-exterior story yet there is much more to it than that. i thought it was a very welcome move that the movie not only took a stab at police brutality and political persecution in turkey (which are everyday realities), it also challenged the standard, "progressive", ataturkist line about a homogenous nation (one nation/one language, etc). it was very touching to see the subtle transition that this man of principles experienced in coming to terms with the brutal reality of eastern turkey. the acting was also quite natural -- the vulnerability that the little girl displayed was superb.

Flawless casting, and touching tender issues of the contemporary Turkish society without hurting any particular political view. The three main characters of the movie have already proved themselves in Turkey, but I think the little girl is also likely to hit the big time when she grows up. The incidents are quite realistic, and the general setting is fabulous. It's easy to spend loads of money and make an FX-oriented film, but pretty tough to make a film dealing with social issues. I've hardly seen one single frame that fails to do the second in this one. Some people might find the conversations between the man and the girl a little overextended, and that's the only negative thing I can find about the film in general. Whoever is not a fan of the typical crappy Hollywood stuff, and knows a little about cinema, will definitely like this film. By all means, go watch it!

9/10