CineTV Contest: My dad and my son (Babam ve Oğlum)

over 1 year ago

There is a prejudice that politics is a dirty game and those who want to stay clean should not get involved. Many people avoid expressing their political views, opinions and preferences. It has the ability to create a potential enemy. We have seen many examples in the past of brother turning against brother when political views diverge.

This week's topic of the weekly contest organized by @cinetv; Favorite Political Movie or Television Show

The movie I chose to participate in the contest was "My Father and My Son", a 2005 Turkish movie.

Original title; Babam ve Oğlum

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As a genre, it is family, drama and political, but as an opening, it is one of the best examples I can give of how politics can lead a family to years of drama and lasting regret.

The father, who wanted his son to study agricultural engineering, is devastated when he chooses journalism because his dream was for his son to become an agricultural engineer and take over the farm.

Sadık (played by Fikret Kuşkan) has the idea of not being a slave to the system and capital. While he was still studying journalism, he participated in some protests at the university and attracted a lot of attention because he harshly criticized the rulers. When his father Hüseyin (played by Çetin Tekindor) finds out about all this, he kicks his son Sadık out of the house and disowns him.

Political views come between father and son and begin to divide a family. One of the most dramatic aspects of the film is that Sadık's wife, who is ostracized for her political ideas and views, has to be taken to the hospital early in the morning of September 12, 1980 because she is in labor.

The streets are empty, no vehicles pass by, the telephones don't work... it is as quiet as if a zombie apocalypse had taken place because at that time there was a military coup in the country and the rulers elected by the people were removed from power by the military.

Sadık's wife has a difficult delivery on the green grass of a park, Sadık holds his son in his arms but loses his wife in childbirth.

All this was caused by the military coup in the country. For a man who has just lost his wife and has just held his son in his arms, it may be thought to be a low point, but as if to say that disaster begets disaster, the bad times do not end.

The man who was thrown out of the house by his father because of his political views and stance, who lost his wife on the day of the coup, who had the misfortune to hold his child on the same day; is arrested again because of his political ideas.

After being mistreated and tortured in prison, he is released, only to find out that he has a fatal disease in his lungs and has only a short time to live... and the movie My Father and My Son begins!

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I realize that I have kept the preliminary information about the movie long, but it is surprising to see that someone being smeared and targeted because of his political point of view and some of his thoughts shows where extreme hatred and vindictiveness has reached. Or I should say surprising in the world of 2022.

Throughout the movie, you watch and appreciate Sadık's efforts to give his 5-year-old son, who will be alone after his death, a room to live in and family members he can trust.

In order to do this, he has to return to his father's home and he does so. Watching the transformation of politics into an arena of hatred and his regret afterwards leads to chilling scenes.

Seeing the hatred that still hasn't cooled down despite the 15 years that have passed; is it really worth it? The question takes over my mind. Yes, politics is a dirty game, but we are the ones who make it so dirty. Our disrespect for opposing views and our unlimited anger take over our personality, our emotions and our minds to such an extent that we realize how much we hurt our loved ones not while they are alive but after they are dead.

How dangerous is the idea that someone seeds and nurtures in their mind? Isn't choosing to dry it up before it blossoms a mind killer? It becomes even sadder when the roots of hatred in the triangle of father, son and grandson are political views.

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Watching the sad events of the 1970s and 1980s through the frame of a movie offers a good opportunity to better understand those days. Although the movie My Father and My Son focuses more on the tragedy of the family, we know that there are thousands of families and tens of thousands of people who have experienced similar tragedies in our country's history.

Çetin Tekindor's performance as Hüseyin, whose dream is for his son to study agricultural engineering and take over the farm, was magnificent. Especially the scene and moments when he loses himself on his way back home after the burial of his son gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes.

Here is that heartbreaking scene

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What entertained me the most while watching the drama of a political event on a family was the performance of all the actors. Each actor reflects their own personality and dialect so well that you need to speak Turkish to fully understand what I mean.

It is both sad and thought-provoking to see what politics has done to such an entertaining family.

Death, unfortunately, is the end and everyone needs to question themselves about what we lose those we grieve for. Especially when the cause is politics, the question of whether it is really worth it becomes a question that everyone must answer.