I just watched this film on video today. As a Turkish-American, it is hard to find good quality Turkish films, and much work has to be done to find those few that are out there. This is certainly one of the few, and it proves the remarkable genius of both the late, great Kemal Sunal- who starred in the film, and director Serif Goren, who was the field director of Yilmaz Guney's famous, yet controversial film "Yol- The Road" (1982). Sunal was also great in his last film "Propaganda" (1999). "Polizei" stands out because it is able to show the social oppression of an immigrant in Germany as Fassbinder in "Ali: Fear Eats The Soul" (1974), and at the same time, it allows Sunal to show his comic genius in a very profound way. Sunal's style is reminiscent of Jerry Lewis. As all Turkish actors of his era, he appeared in many bad films but in spite of that he always managed to show a spark of genius. "Propaganda" and "Polizei" illustrate the genius quite well. He was living proof that any actor of talent can make an artistic statement in his work, even if the film industry in his country is not up to his talents. I may not be as familiar with Sunal's films as Turkish people in Anadolu and Europe, but I will certainly his efforts a great deal.
