Cezmi Baskin Movies

Ever since the 1950s, television and the movies have been engaged in an ongoing war for the mind of the average Joe, but this battle for cultural supremacy takes a very different form in this comedy from Turkey. It's 1974, but in a small village in Southern Turkey, the 20th century is only grudgingly acknowledged by most of the residents. The state of the art of entertainment is represented by open-air film screenings hosted by Latif (Cezmi Baskin), a sleazy opportunist with access to a collection of aged motion pictures from Turkey and France. Nazmi (Altan Erkekli), the mayor of the town, bitterly dislikes Latif and boycotts his screenings out of spite -- though he encourages his wife and children to watch the films for free from the rooftop of a nearby building. Nazmi, however, has learned of a new invention that could conceivably put Latif out of business once and for all -- a "picture box" that seemingly pulls images and sounds out of the sky. Television is all but unknown in the village, and Nazmi is the first man in town to own a set, but having a TV and getting a decent picture are two very different matters, and the search for a strong signal eventually leads to a journey up a nearby mountain. Latif, meanwhile, counters the news of the "vision-tele" everyone is talking about by spreading word that the TV is the work of the Devil and a slap in the face of Islamic tradition. Vizontele was written by Yilmaz Erdogan, who also collaborated on the direction with O. Faruk Sorak. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In Dervis, Italian director Alberto Rondalli returns to the theme of religion which has served him well in several earlier films. It is a story of revenge set in provincial Turkey in the early 1900s. Its main character is Ahmed Nurettin, a sheik who is responsible not only for upholding the civil law in his community, but also the Muslim faith. Because Ahmed is a dutiful man, he tries to do his best in this world by studying the Koran day and night. The problem is that his studies are so time-consuming that he has become out of touch with his fellow man. A wake-up call comes when Ahmed's brother is accused of a crime he did not commit and is arbitrarily sentenced to death. At first, Ahmed assumes that his position of power will get his brother off the hook, but he soon learns that the judges in the case are men just like himself -- men who are indifferent to society, knowing only the codes and punishments set down in their religious books. When the brother is executed, Ahmed sets out to punish the judges in his brother's case by stirring up a bloody revolt. Events spiral out of control until Ahmed comes into conflict with his best friend in the community, a man named Hassan. He believes he must kill Hassan, but the choice is a difficult one, as Ahmed knows deep down that the murder will be unjust. In the end, Ahmed must choose to obey his religious duties or the tugs of his conscience. ~ Connor McMadden, Rovi