Netflix 23/05/2022
Yolun açık olsun. Filmmaker Mehmet Ada öztekin Adapted from Hakan Evrensel's book With: Engin Akyürek Tolga Sarıtaş Belfu Benian Öyku Naz Altay
" The unbearable lightness of being"
Writing about that film without revealing how it unfolds is a difficult task. However this masterpiece deserves to be talked about and praised just read this after watching.
Filmed in July 2021 for Netflix and presented on May the 23rd 2022, Yolun açık olsun ( Godspeed in English) is the story of the enigmatic Captain Salih ( Engin Akyürek) and his inner journey towards redemption. Wounded during the war, he has lost his leg and walks with a prothesis. He decides to do a road trip accross Turkey, to help his friend kerim ( Tolga Sarıtaş) and prevent the wedding of the woman he loves. With the war casualties, misery and consequences on the human psyche as a backdrop, the film depicts with infinite subtlety, the complex meanders dwelling in the human soul, when death approches or faced with grief. It is also the magnificent portrayal of an unconditional friendship, which will guide Salih along his journey. We follow the trip of those two men across Turkey, up until they arrive in the town where the wedding is celebrated. The story thread is the car journey, intertwined with images of the past. The car journey will guide Salih towards the light and completion of his own inner quest.
"Mise en scène"
Sepia color. From the start, the film brings about a sense of enigma, there is a feeling of opacity, a “je ne sais quoi” which sets the tone and makes us wonder. The story is set in contemporary Turkey, however, to embark on his 700 kms journey accross dusty yet beautiful rural Turkey, Salih chooses to drive an old Mercedes, a token of the days long gone. The spectator is at once carried away into some sort of narrative no man's land. Salih, his gaze focused on the road, is engaged into his own secretive monologue, Kerim is there, happily challenging Salih first, humorous and tender and progressively fading in to a nostalgic sadness as the trip moves on. He is there and yet he is not. In sepia tones , the car scenes are filmed with a tinted veil, except during the flashbacks. In the past memories images, the characters, Kerim mostly , are filmed in a dazzling, blinding bright light, the light of the battle, when Kerim dances a joyful "efe" dance or when he is happy on his boat, flirting with his beloved. This subdued light , the deserted landscapes they go through , the loneliness of the characters, the car, take us into the past. We slowly understand and sense the deeply rooted wounds hidden behind the apparently moody attitude of Salih. The filmmaker esthetic choice to work on the shadow and light, depending on the events unfolding and the characters's feelings, brings about an unspeakable poetic feeling, an overwhelming emotion and a haunting sense of time gone by.
Narrative choices.
The whole film is built on duality.
The two main characters duality. In the car scenes, Salih is a silent, lost in his thoughts, brooding man, dark, consumed with a mysterious pain. Kerim appears then to be allof, observing Salih with a sad terderness. In the past Kerim, a happy, young hearted man is carefree, innocent and playful, insecure and in awe of his captain when he meets him and on the battle scenes.
Salih's past life moments are filmed in a crepuscular dark light, showing a man with an apparent strong sense of duty whereas the blessed Kerim is always walking in a bright and sunny background. Darkness and light, life and death. When the two men meet for the first time in Salih's office, the light goes off by accident, the captain and his newly recruited soldier, find themselves in the dark, an out of time turning point, an omen for what is about to happen. That beautiful scene unveils Salih's complex being and Kerim's innocent happiness, trust, and yet fear of what is awaiting him.
Space duality. The films appears to be a classical road movie at first. Two friends embark on a road trip. We are left wondering, why are they going, why is Salih so moody....all will be unveiled along the way. The whole drama unfolds within the car space. Movement outside , Salih does drive a car across Turkey, stillness and memories inside.
During journey,space we are the silent witnesses of Salih's hectic behaviour and mood changes. In the car space, we enter another time.
Narrative duality. All along the way, there is a shift between the present time, the actual real car journey, and the impalpable past. As they and we, go along the road, the flashbacks progressively uncover Salih and Kerim past and reveal the original drama to reach the final unexpected moving climax.The never ending streams and gaps running between present time and Salih 's inner voyage towards light, salvation and forgiveness, is conveyed with great subtlety by the two men's acting and the dichotomy between the present life journey and what goes on inside their brain.
Two landscapes: The war landscape and the natural world.
The war landscape , a stone desert, almost black and white, no trees, guns only, a desolated deadly place, like Mordor in Tolkien's Lord of the rings, a dead space.
On the contrary, water, rivers, the sea streams, the forest, are filmed in a soft light. The most serene moments in the films are all set in the natural world: Kerim's sacred river spot, the reeds ondulating in the soft wind, his sweet memories, the boat taking Salih and his sun towards a shimmering future, those two opposite worlds speak to each other in a meaningful and moving manner.
The actors and their embodiements.
Secondary characters.
Revolving around Karim and Salih, the secondary characters shed a meaningful light on the two friends story. Kerim goes to war on a whim, to be able to marry his beloved Elif, not concious of what it cruelly involves. Salih's wife unconditionnal love will eventually bring him back to life. Then, there is the portrayal of rural Turkey: the daughters' weddings decided by the fathers, the omniscient family law ( Kerim's destiny is sealed through his decision to proove to Elif's father he is a worthy man). The encounters, as they travel along: the grocer who wants to eat the bird Salih will save, his sensitive feelings for the frightened bird, a mirror image of his locked soul, the hunters, who finally shoot that bird and the subsequent intense reaction of the captain, the mean pityless restaurant owner, all shed a light on Salih's behaviour and expose his soul.
Salih - Kerim. Engin Akyürek -Tolga Sarıtaş.
A mirror game.
Engin Akyürek extraordinary embodiement of Captain Salih, portrays a soldier whose inner battles we intuitively perceive. Outstanding actor, he once more displays his unique ability to enter a character's aura and spirit, and expresses the infinite subtleties of Salih's tiniest inner turmoils and soul movements. Salih monolithic body in the beginning, contradicts the water in his eyes. His gentle soul and his brusk shifts of mood ( the bird scene, the son and father's scene ).He expresses the self punishment and claustrophobic mind of the one who can hardly control his self anger. Kerim is Salih's weak point, the symbol of his
torturing guilt, and yet the one who will give him his lost heart back in the end.. We know this incredible capability of the actor to become one with his character. In that film, Engin Akyürek's acting shimmerings, meets a true partner, one who echoes or rather responds to that ability.
In the car journey, The dark fire in Salih's heart, burns harder in response to Kerim /Tolga's words. Salih, at the beginning of the film is indecipherable, moody, locked in himseld , harsh in the way he speaks to Kerim. His well protected shell breaks next to the young man, who little by little expresses loudly what happened and doing so, opens a door into the past : Salih's family died in the old Mercedes. The original guilt. The same car the captain will spend years fixing, to conjure up the sorrow gnawing at his heart, trying to repair and fix his burning sense of shame. And the very same car the two men are travelling into. As this haunting film moves on, we never cease wondering..... Is Kerim Salih's consciousness and the iconic presence of his guilt, is he the shadow of his own self to help Salih mourn. The mise en scene is a subtle masterpiece.
Tolga Sarıtaş brings light, joy and acuteness to his character. He gives birth to his sunny Kerim in a very sensitive, gracefull way, embodying his lively self as well as his nostalgic presence. Kerim's life is about being happy and marrying Elif. Ironically as the film evolves, Salih starts a long path towards salvation and life as Kerim fades away slowly saving Salih in th eprocess with his generous soul...The film is a gem, thanks to the inter connection of those two actors and characters together.
"The unbearable lightness of being" That wonderful sentence from a film I saw a long time ago, came to my mind immediately after the ending of Yolun Açık Olsun.
The friendship between two men caught in the war's nets, that manly frienship, the secret pains of the heart, the dramas who make people fall, the war's lack of humanity are the heart of of the film's truth. The filmmaker strips the story of pathos, frills and artificial sentimentality and thus doing exposes with delicacy and beauty, our human weaknesses, our mistakes and restless wanderings. The film is about those who save us and those we save, our secret and intimate territories, the death of those we love, our free falls, love, the eternal beauty of the natural world, soothing the soul, the meaning of life.
Yolun Açık olsun, " Godspeed" adapted from the excellent book by Hakan Evrensel, is indeed a pamphlet against war , but above all, a story about loss, guilt, heart warming friendships, love lost or found, sadness and joy, resilience. A film about our unspeakable mistakes, wrong choices, the forbidden paths we take and those who allow us to heal and be saved. It tears our heart apart. When we understand why Kerim "is" in Salih's car and why Salih wants to prevent Elif from getting married to a man she does not love. We all live our daily lives with people loved and gone. The end of the film is both radiant and immensely sad, but long after it has ended, the captain's black eyes and his infinite pain, his unbearable exiles, his friend 's gentle smiles and sadness linger in our heart and makes us bend our head and cry. A masterpiece.
Cathie Hubert Artist, author cinema reviewer. France 24 Mai 2022 / Translated from the French version.