Gecenin Kanatları: Love, death and other unforgivable distractions

In a career spanning more than a decade, director Serdar Akar has given us everything from inspiring, to brutal, to commercial. Now, he adds yet another superlative to his filmography with the recent ‘Gecenin Kanatları’ (The Wings of the Night), tedious

When director Serdar Akar’s debut feature Gemide (On Board) was released more than a decade ago, both critics and audience felt the movie was a fresh breath of air in a period of decline for Turkish cinema. The intimate look into the world of men, complete with a slang-filled dialogue that actually sounded genuine, vowed many, and promised an inspiring young filmmaker for Turkish cinema. In the year 2000, came Dar Alanda Kısa Paslaşmalar (Offside, not be confused with another recent release, No Offsides), a modest movie featuring the legendary actress Müjde Ar that would establish Akar as a respected director.

In the last decade, however, Akar managed to confuse his followers and critics. He tried his craft in the occasional TV series, directed the mediocre movie adaptation of the hit TV series, Kurtlar Vadisi – Irak (Valley of the Wolves: Iraq), and in 2007, returned to the dark world of machismo with his violent Barda (In Bar), to relatively favorable reviews.

Kırmızıgül’s ‘films-to-do’

His latest, Gecenin Kanatları (The Wings of the Night), is yet another notch in Akar’s bizarre filmography. Before its release, many thought it was the latest in a line of box office hits from the pop singer-cum-filmmaker Mahsun Kırmızıgül, as the trailers blared the names of Kırmızıgül's previous two films. In reality, he was actually the co-writer of Gecenin Kanatları, with Ahmet Küçükkayalı.

The movie gives the feeling that it could very well have been directed by Kırmızıgül, with his trademark style as a filmmaker that mixes controversial social and national issues. His debut feature, Beyaz Melek (The White Angel), focused on the dire situation of senior citizens in Turkey, and touched here and there on Turkey’s problematic position with cultural diversity. His recent ground-breaking second feature, Güneşi Gördüm (I Saw the Sun), was a crafty blend of everything from state policies toward Kurdish citizens to migration and transgendered identities in Turkey.

Gecenin Kanatları plays like another movie on Kırmızıgül’s films-to-do list and is not even remotely reminiscent of the passionate style Akar displayed in either his earlier films or the recent Barda. In the film, Beren Saat, perhaps television's most popular actress at the moment, plays Gece (meaning Night, hence the name of the movie). Having seen both her parents executed in the aftermath of the 1980 coup, Gece channels her anger and revenge into becoming a devoted member of a leftist organization. She becomes a suicide bomber, only to fall for the professional athlete Yusuf (Murat Ünalmış), who lives next door.

Losing my connection

You know what to expect as Gece walks into a thin line between love and death. In Gecenin Kanatları, we’re supposed to be moved by the hard choice Gece has to make between Yusuf, with whom she's falling in love, and the deeply-rooted cause for which she's preparing to die. Sadly, the characters are never allowed to breathe and develop, leaving the audience unsatisfied as the drama unfolds on the screen.

As the movie delves into the terrorist organization, we are left to wonder what their cause is and for what they’re really willing to sacrifice their lives . The ambitious lines inserted into the mouths of the characters soon begin sounding like bad jokes, eventually turning Gece’s motives into nothing but bad jokes. After the first half hour, the viewer loses total connection with the characters. Even worse, the audience begins feeling that the actors have lost their connection as well.

The much-hyped sex scenes between Gece and Yusuf seem forced, and not even sexy, letting the audience lose the final sense of empathy for the love between the two. The movie feels rushed, incomplete, and very much like the plethora of mediocre TV series on Turkish channels. It's just there’s a plethora of them, and they are free.

Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News on 19 Dec. 09