Eskiya Movie Review

Eskiya [The Bandit] (1996)

Watch the trailer
Written by: Yavuz Turgul
Directed by: Yavuz Turgul
Starring: Sener Sen, Ugur Yücel, Sermin Hürmeriç
Rated: NR [PG-13]

Plot
Baran the Bandit, released from prison after thirty-five years, searches for vengeance and his lover.

Verdict
While it set a new precedent for Turkish movies, and it's a very good story, it's a movie that's far behind contemporary American movies. It feels like a movie I've seen before. The context and what this movie did for Turkey overshadows the movie itself. An honorable thief seeks revenge against many people, facing insurmountable obstacles.
It depends.

Review
This is the movie regarded as saving Turkish cinema.

Baran (Şener Şen) leaves prison after serving thirty-five years. He goes back to his village, and it's gone, little more than ruins. That illustrates just how much has changed since he's been gone. Baran wants revenge on the person that turned him in. It's been a long time coming, but Baran doesn't kill the man as his prey unwittingly gives him a name of someone else he used to know.

Şener Şen plays Baran

Baran befriends low level hoodlum Cumali (Uğur Yücel) on the train. Cumali regards the bandit as a simple old man, but he helps him in the city anyway after Baran helps him smuggle contraband off the train. He happens to see his betrayer, Berfo, on television in an interview. The reporter asks how Berfo rose to prominence so quickly with Berfo getting upset and dismissing him.

Baran goes to Berfo's house and is detained and interrogated. He's surprisingly released, and that's so Berfo could talk to him. Berfo admits to the betrayal, claiming he was in love and powerless to stop himself. Berfo stole Baran's girlfriend, and his excuse is that he loved her more as he was willing to betray his best friend for her.

Cumali gets himself in trouble, stealing for a woman with which he's infatuated. She double crosses him, leaving Cumali owing his boss a lot of money. Baran accepts the debt, planning to make Berfo pay.

The problem is that Baran is an honorable bandit facing dishonorable people. He plans to save his former girlfriend and Cumali, but it's beyond his control. He faces insurmountable odds, seeking revenge against everyone that's wronged him and for those he cares about.

It's a movie that seems much older than it is. Context is important for this movie as it seems unfair to compare it to contemporary American movies.