MUBI

There are some interesting connections between “Hanka” (1955) by Slavko Vorkapic and “Dry Summer” (1964) by Metin Erksan.

Both take place in a rural community. In “Hanka” it is a village in Bosnia & Herzegovina dominated by the timber industry. In “Dry Summer” it is a farming village in Turkey. Both of these locales ground their respective films in a very lush naturalism that comes to bear its effects on thematics and formal aspects.

Both feature a beautiful young woman at the center of a power struggle between two men, one younger and the other older. In “Hanka” it is the title character, a passionate Gypsy woman (Vera Gregovic) who craves freedom but also the affections of a strong Gypsy man who works as a logger and who eventually marries her. In “Dry Summer” it is Bahar (Hulya Kocyigit), a teenage village girl who marries her sweetheart Hasan (Ulvi Dogan), who tends to the irrigation channel and crops on his family farm with his older brother Osman (Erol Tas).

Both women are violently attacked at the end of the film. Hanka is strangled to death by her husband in a fit of rage when she reveals she has cheated on him because he does not love her anymore. Bahar is shot by the obsessive and jealous Osman who has usurped his brother’s place in the marriage (though it is revealed in the conclusion that the rifle shot was not fatal).

Both feature the younger man going to prison and losing the faith of his wife. Hanka’s husband is sent to jail for destroying the property of his older rival as a result of the struggle for control over her. In the process he is released from jail with the help of another woman and ultimately begins living with her. Hasan in “Dry Summer” takes the blame when his older brother shoots and kills his neighbor in an argument over the irrigation channel they control. Osman selfishly takes the opportunity to feed Bahar a steady diet of lies as to Hasan’s well-being, eventually convincing her that he is dead so he can have her for himself.

Both feature the death of the older man. In “Hanka” he is killed by her even older father figure who is protecting her from his cruel advances. A rock crushes his skull and he is quickly disposed of in the river beneath the farm. In “Dry Summer”, when Hasan is released from jail he returns home to reclaim his wife and to get revenge on his brother. He drowns him after they fight in the very irrigation channel Osman used to viciously oppress his neighbors in the farming community. After both of these men die they are dropped into a river and swept away by the tides. The images of their floating corpses haunt the films with an elemental fury, returning them from whence they came.

Both films feature spoken Turkish. The Bosnians in “Hanka” use the familiar Turkish “merhaba” as a greeting, not to mention their utilization of traditional Turkish dress and customs. Bosnia & Herzegovina was part of the Ottoman Empire as recently as the beginning of the 20th century so the cultural heritages of the two films are connected on a deep level.

Both films are of historical importance. “Hanka” was Vorkapic’s only feature film, which he made after a distinguished career working as a theoretician, special effects maestro and avant-garde filmmaker in Hollywood. Surely one of the first films to focus on gypsy life and characters, it was chosen to represent Yugoslavia at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956. “Dry Summer” won Erksan a Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1964. This cemented his status as a master of Turkish cinema and he continued to direct films into the 80s.

A unique double feature, both films placed in front of my eyes by chance only days apart. Vorkapic and Erksan are cinematic soul mates, as attested to by the nuanced vision they share in these two wonderful films.

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A dark drama about the covetous nature of man and the self-righteous abuse of power that ensues whenever it is acted on. Osman, the antagonist, instigates every conflict with his lustfulness and kiniving. Each plot point pivots on his next atrocious deed. The do-gooders are persuaded to abide by his wickedness for one reason or another, making for a very frustrating but affective viewing experience. The story is maybe a minimalistic allegory for capitalism, using water as the driving symbol and the source of some intrigueing imagery. The acting isn’t superb, but in several scenes, the shifting of status is illustrated by very well-executed blocking. The movement is accompanied by some rather fantastic camera work, and with the quick editing, the film moves rapidly. Other than some monotonous action sequences, Dry Summer is very riveting and certainly dense.

Metin Erksan portrays brilliantly the feud between Osman, his brother Hasan, who vies for equality and moral judgment with the local water source, and their neighbors. The direction of this movie is surprising and the characters draw you into the conflicts between events. Although the film does a good job at portraying these events, the characters are underdeveloped and there is not enough focus on the brother Hasan. Hülya Koçyigit plays an entrancing role as Bahar, Hasan’s wife and possibly is the most understood character. Recommended.

A classic film about passion, desire, corruption of the human spirit, suffering, and sacrifice. The film is a tale of two brothers who own a farm in Turkey. The reservoir, which irrigates all of the other farmers crops, happens to be on their land and the season is particularly dry. This makes the most valuable commodity in this community water, or the ’Earth’s blood.’ This may seem a very dramatic way of describing the simplest of things to us, water, but within the film is extremely accurate in expressing the necessity of water for these people to eek out even the simplest existence. The eldest brother of the two , Osman, is a cruel brute who does not want to continue sharing the ’earth’s blood’ with the other farmers. Hassan, the younger brother, believes in sharing such a thing which no one has a right to own, but respects the bond of family, and honors his elder by going along with him and biting his tongue. Hassan is in love with the lovely girl Bahar, whom he eventually marries. She is also the secret object of desire of Osman. After closing the dam is closed violence escalates between the farmers and the two brothers, until one day two farmers blow the dam, resulting in Osman shooting and killing one of the saboteurs. He quickly convinces Hassan to take the blame for the crime, because he will receive a lighter sentence, and also promising to watch the farm and take care of his wife while he is away. Afterwords, with Hassan away serving Eight years for murder, Osman’s true lustful intentions towards Bahar, and blind greed become clear.Democracy in takes hold in Turkey, and Hassan is freed from prison. He immediately seeks his revenge upon Osman for his betrayal, and to do the one righteous thing that would have prevented the entire ordeal, destroying the dam. Osman is armed and waiting, the brothers fight and Hassan symbolically drowns Osman in his precious reservoir. The film then culminating with Hassan destroying the dam, and a shot of Osman’s lifeless body floating down the reservoir duct and into the fields below.

The camerawork in this film was very good in my opinion. Shots of Osman’s eyes revealed early on his lust and greed. The long shots panning across the farmers faces as they sit in silence, helpless, with no crops to work. The transition of Hassan riding the train to prison going into Osman and Bahar riding the train back from the same visit where Bahar discovered Hassan had been transferred, all the while Osman lying and saying they’ll see him, and they’ll write.

The film itself has some strong Socialist overtones but since it is set in a traditional Muslim society, they come through a little strange. The films message is that Capitalism has its allure but ultimately leads to greed, lust, and deceitful behavior, which is represented by Osman. All the while Hassan only wants to do what he feels is right in his heart, and selflessly help his fellow man, like a good Socialist. He learns only after Osman’s betrayal why he was truly in jail, because he did not stand up to his brother and the traditional values he used to manipulate him with and trick him into going to jail in the first place. In the end the common man is saved, and the evil tyrant is overthrown. Hassan, with Bahar at his side as his equal, is ready to face the world free of his brother and with the renewed hope for a better, honest life.

This is a wonderful film about how man’s passions can get the best of him or allow him to pass beyond the boundaries of right and wrong. Artfully directed and with an excellent authentic soundtrack that moves in perfect harmony with the film. Watch this film.

This is an interesting film about social authority and human behaviour. The film carries out socialist views yet in contrast the characters hold very traditional values towards themselves and in society. For example Bahar, the wife of Hasan, is a submissive character that (without the consent or suggestion of her husband) does nothing to upset Osman’s rule over her or the village. (Not a feminist character that’s for sure).

Osman, a widowed farmer and land owner, decides to keep all the water supply, which is found on his land, for himself. His brother Hasan does not agree yet does nothing to upset the brotherly hierarchy. Some of the villagers, upset, try and break Osman’s dam and make the water accessible. One of the villagers of shot dead by Osman, but Hasan is convinced to take the blame. In short, Hasan goes to prison, his wife is raped by Osman and he returns to take revenge.

But what I did not understand is why Osman wanted all the water to himself; he does not need all of it? Does this represent Capitalisms illogical ideology? How did he become the way he is, while his brother is so righteous and good? Osman and his brother Hasan remind me of Alexis and the “Avare”, Séraphin, in the Québécois novel “Un homme et son péché” by Claude-Henri Grignon.

Great film to watch, I suggest it to every cinema lover.

What a great film. It’s very well done and very well acted. The cinematography in beautiful black and white is stunning as well as the use of light and shadows. The plot and story are intense and thought provoking causing you to wonder where the lines of right and wrong/good and bad are, and how concrete they are under certain circumstances. It touches on brotherhood, human relationships, and desire. This is a classic twist of passion, greed, love and betrayal, with an intriguingly good (I assume) Turkish musical accompaniment. It’s free to watch, and I strongly recommend you do!

mientras que algunas soluciones son magníficas -como la cámara que da vueltas para comunicar lo que ella siente al enterarse de la supuesta muerte de su esposo- otras no me lo parecen tanto. el esquema de melodrama rural donde el hermano menor es un papanatas que pasa una temporada en la cárcel y entrega a su esposa al gañan del hermoano mayor… no me convence del todo. muy apreciable el esquema sencillo (con una producción que parece estar a tono). algunos de sus temas hilan una madeja perfecta: el agua, el deseo, la traición, la avaricia, el egoísmo, la ceguera. la protagonista es muy hermosa y los occidentales sólo podemos lamentarnos de la mojigatería campesina turca, su ropa interior es sencillamente insoportable.

también es buena la secuencia de la mordedura del cuñado venenoso, las trenzas de ella, el espejo con el que se comunica ella con su futuro esposo, el camaleón, el espantapájaros. el conflicto entre la propiedad privada y los derechos de la comunidad sobre recursos como el agua…

a very actual theme, yes water is the blood of Earth, and the need to possess delivers nothing but war. The idea of fighting over food and water is frightful although it exists in poorer countries and could easily already be a reason of strategy and power in larger scale, not far from now. Look at the privatisation of the South Pole: a whined excuse of research on behalf of countries such as USA, Italy, France to name a few (but not so many in list to share this priveleged role). Loved the music while they beated him up (around the 55th min.). The woman actress has temporality features that don’t quite fit the iconography of the film. Happy Scorsese helped the restoration, i’m sure he liked the impact of the bad guy in its contrasting black and whites.

One of the great works in Turkish cinema. The effects of realism are seen throughout the movie (a dog being shot,a chicken’s head is cut off, etc.), similar to Yılmaz Güney’s films in that sense. The movie mainly deals with the conflicts arising from the right of private property over a water source and the feudal relations between family members. The cinematography of this movie is also worth seeing, and I believe it can even be compared to works of Ozu and Bergman.

It liked it a lot. It was a nice little meditation on tyranny and the overcoming of that tyranny. Some of the visuals were kind of harsh for modern American audiences (ie. the dog), but there were also a lot of well-composed shots and good use of metaphorical imagery. Pretty standard story, but with the date it was made in mind, I don’t imagine there were as many of this type of story as there is now. It sort of reminded me of Pather Panchali…not in the content or subject matter, but just in the overall way it was shot.

Dry Summer. Underneath all the beautifully laid-out drama and rustic narrative, lies bare the inconvenient truth of an innocent woman’s life…or the lack of it. There is water and there is Osman. There are neighbors and the good-looking Hasan. And although not the main object of interest of the movie, the spring-clean innocence of Bahar clearly epitomizes the life of a woman…or the lack of it. For she loves, labors, and accepts deceipt; all with her characteristic innocence. Only to lose it all in the end, along with her wasted life.

Impresionante! genial, sencilla, simplemente increible. Lección de cine de punta a punta. Una lección constante de conjunción de elementos técnicos impecables con una historia y unas actuaciones dificiles de encontrar.
El montaje es intachable, la fotografía es perfecta, el arte es genial. Lo que más me impresiona de esta película es el hecho de que la simpleza es lo que subyace en toda la película. La simpleza de la maldad egoista y también la simpleza del amor. Simplemente me encantó.
Sorry to all those who can not read spanish. guess you can always use the google translator …

The older brother was one of the nastiest villains in film that I’ve seen in a long time. I also liked the philosophical water rights angle of the film and the symbolism. After the younger brother went to prison, the film started to drag a bit until the end, which was excellent. I especially liked the older brother floating in the water and being flushed into the village. That is a memorable way to end a movie. The film also had a strong neorealist feel to it that added to its authenticity.

I do not believe a film’s ending has been made so inevitable as early as it was in this film. From the very beginning, the triangle of Osman, Hasan and Bahar was set, as well as the Capitalist/Socialist binary of Osman and the neighbours. It was clear that purity and good-will were going to win in the face of betrayal and greed, but at what cost was not clear. Excellent film. Would love to see more from Metin Erksan as well as Erol Tas who was perverse, yet perfect as Osman.

Thank you. It was almost impossible to find a copy of this film. Such a Shakespearean character, with the beginning and the end. But more than the relationship of 3 main characters, the biggest suprise in this film’s script is the fact that what we see is “how to emerge a blood-feud”. Most of the time, in movies and in life, the core of blood-feud’s are unknown by the one’s who are sustain. One last thing about the actors, Erol Taş has this screen-persona that says: He is the bad one. Someone’s are ust too god when being bad. Very well acted. And Hülya Koçyiğit is very good although it is her first film.

Thank you so much.
A drama of Shakespearean extent, so carefully and skilfully constructed. The damage done by a single man; his greed and selfishness brings many at harm; he sacrifices his only brother deliberately. This man personifies treason of common moral law and reason, emotional cruelty and covetousness for his brothers heartbroken wife. His crude motives remain valid for the present states of mind, which leaves me with a strong message: Intervention on the basis of simple common sense – of what is right and what is wrong – is a simple necessity of keeping own dignity.
Thank you, it’s been quite a while since I last realized it was really that easy.

Spoiler alert!

Thank you for making this beautiful restoration available. I feel compelled to share the most moving moments of the film for me.

The nighttime scene of Osman patrolling the canal is both ominous and magical. It’s there that we start to believe that the water is his doom. It’s narrative storytelling in grand style.

Erksan’s choice to tell this story through the animals—the frog traversing a dry field, the dog dying hideously at the hand of vengeance—and landscape was also pitch-perfect and underscored the fact that no one and nothing could escape the tragedy of Osman’s selfishness.

Finally, Erksan’s insight into village politics—democracy with a small ‘d’—was, well, delightful and authentic. Our faith in each other can’t always overcome greed, but we damn well give it a go, don’t we? Lovely story.

I’m wondering if John Nichols saw this prior to writing The Milagro Beanfield War—or if Robert Redford had seen this prior to his adaptation? Thank you thank you thank you!

Ok, maybe a bit too Caino vs. Abele, a powerful movie still, centred on the regenerative force of water. From the tense arguments over the pool to the final drowning of Osman, water is first and foremost actor. It seemed like the movie itself needed water, risking to dry up otherwise. Every time the dike was lifted a new source of energy sort of ‘upgraded’ the movie and its character. In this sense the awkward decision of the censor committee to prohibit the movie as showing the Turkish land as ‘infertile’ appears to miss the point even more blatantly. This is not merely a movie about the role of water for the land. This is a movie about water as a spiritual force allowing love, friendship and creativity to human beings, a force which cannot be stopped or enclosed but can only be freely shared. Perhaps this aspect was sensed, either consciously or unconsciously, as dangerous by the committee’s bigotry. Really good, makes you craving for a dive……

a disturbing film.. i watched it with clenched teeth. the killing of Osman should have been a lot faster coming. the movie leaves you with a feeling of being a fly on the wall – the actors make the movie terribly real. The interplay between Bahar and Osman left my skin crawling, and I dont agree with another reviewer about the snake bite scene being erotic. I thought Osman was the depiction of pure evil – in a very real, human sort of way. He lurks … yes, he still lurks…

Dry Summer is a direct portrait of scarcity – not only in terms of natural resources but contact as well. Just as the community desires for water, the elder brother desperately wants to satiate his thirst for human interaction – no matter the cost.

I have been unaware of Turkish cinema until just recently, and with the restoration of this great gem, it is evident the well runs deep in their cinematic heritage. Hopefully, more like these will be unearthed and shared.