The Armenian organizations in Australia attempted to stop the screening of this movie in local cinemas without success. This indicated to me that the film was worth seeing.
We went to see 120 on a sunny Sunday afternoon together with several family friends. Although we tried hard to hold back tears during the screening, we were nevertheless struck with the tender presentation of a bitter episode in Turkish history.
"Munire" is a well known and deeply admired young actress in Turkey. Her performance adds great deal of warmth to the otherwise sobering and equally desperate struggle. Unfortunately, I found that the players were not given sufficient time to exhibit their full potentials. The plot was somewhat rushed and climactic moments were not well emphasized. Period atmosphere, superb music and excellent cinematography tend to alleviate many of these shortcomings however make-up and reproduction of local dialects fall far short of a commendable standard.
Makers of this genre need to review and digest the productions of the rival camp before embarking upon such ambitious projects. Having said that, one should also bear in mind that Turks have to refrain from making Armenian style propaganda films which only help create friction and reinforce communal hatred. I believe viewers would like to see the historical facts made palatable with a small romantic story as was done in 120.
Of course, one impediment towards creating a "Doctor Zhivago" standard movie is money. Turkish film makers have to find the necessary financial support in order to be able to create world class productions. This is not too hard to do in this day and age
. they only need to follow the examples of their Armenian and Greek counterparts.
One last suggestion is to convince the producers that the copies to be shown overseas need to be dubbed into English or German depending on where the films is screened with Turkish subtitles. These films need to be tailored to attract Turkish youth abroad and the local population in foreign countries. Turkiye is on the back foot after 80 years of intense Armenian lobbying and the only way to reverse this trend is to show "the other side of the coin" to the world community.
