Eşkiya
The Bandit – Eşkiya movie storyline. The epic adventures of the legendary Baran the Bandit following his release from prison. After serving 35 years, it is no surprise that the world has changed dramatically. Still, Baran can’t help but be shocked to discover that his home village is now underwater thanks to the construction of a new dam.
He then heads for Istanbul to get revenge upon his former best friend, the man who snitched on him and stole his lover Keje. Along the way, Baran teams up with Cumali, a tough young punk who finds the thief’s old-fashioned ways rather quaint. When Cumali gets into deep trouble with a crime boss, Baran adds another vengeful task to his roster.
The Bandit (Turkish: Eşkıya) is a 1996 Turkish film written and directed by Yavuz Turgul and starring Şener Şen and Uğur Yücel. According to the director the film, which is about a bandit who comes to Istanbul after serving a 35-year jail sentence, “blends fairy tale elements while carrying the notion of reality within a fictional story.”
The film is highly popular in Turkey, where it drew in 2½ million viewers and in Germany where it won a Bogey Award. The film is exclusively regarded as the savior and the turning point of Turkish cinema which was desperately struggling against foreign films since the 1980s and having difficulty attracting domestic audiences. It was Turkey’s official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 70th Academy Awards.
About the Story
After serving a 35-year jail sentence, Baran (played by Şener Şen), an eşkıya (a bandit, a haydut in Turkish), is released from prison in a town in Eastern Turkey. When returning to the home village he witness the fact that the world has changed dramatically during those years, with the village itself underwater after the construction of a dam.
Then he also finds out that the person who masterminded the betrayal that brought him to jail was Berfo (Kamuran Usluer), a friend who had once been closer to him than a brother. In order to snare Keje (Sermin Şen), Baran’s sweetheart, Berfo seized his best friend’s gold and had Baran arrested by the gendarmes on Mountain Cudi. Then Berfo purchased Keje from her father against her will, and disappeared. According to rumor, he is in Istanbul.
While traveling to Istanbul by train, Baran meets Cumali (Uğur Yücel), a young man. Cumali was raised in the alleys of Beyoğlu, his life revolving around bars, gambling joints, alcohol, dope and women. Cumali dreams of joining the mafia and making it big. He takes Baran to a dilapidated hotel in the backstreet’s of Beyoğlu. After a while, Cumali and his friends discover that Baran used to be a bandit, but they can’t take it seriously.
Cumali’s dreams of a new life include Emel (Yeşim Salkım), his girlfriend. Emel has a convict brother, Sedat (Özkan Uğur), who is in trouble with the other prisoners in his jail. His life is in danger, and he needs a high amount of money to get out. Cumali promises Emel to get the money for her brother as soon as possible. Thus, when he deals with a transport of drugs for the mafia, he steals a quantity, enough to secure the escaping of Sedat and also later to get him in trouble with Demircan (Melih Çardak), the mafia boss.
The Bandit – Eşkiya (1996)
Directed by: Yavuz Turgul
Starring: Sener Sen, Uğur Yücel, Sermin Sen, Yesim Salkim, Kamran Usluer, Özkan Ugur, Necdet Mahfi Ayral, Kayhan Yildizoglu, Güven Hokna, Melih Çardak
Screenplay by: Yavuz Turgul
Cinematography by: Ugur Içbak
Film Editing by: Hakan Akol, Burak Arliel, Onur Tan
Costume Design by: Gulay Dogan, Ozlem Sekercioglu
Art Direction by: Idil Akcil, Selda Cicek, Ziya Ulkenciler
Music by: Askin Arsunan, Erkan Ogur
Distributed by: K Films (1998) (France), Warner Bros. Pictures (1996) (Turkey), Constantin Film (Germany)
Release Date: November 29, 1996
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