482 Cultural Life
 
Cultural Life 483  
 
   
 
 
  
  
 

Cinema

 
     
  The documentary “Demolition of the Russian Monument at St. Stephen”, shot by Fuat Uzkınay in 1914, is regarded as the first Turkish movie. On the other hand, the “Wedding of Himmet Ağa”, the shooting of which began in 1914 and completed in 1919, is also one of the first movies. During the same period, thematic films were also made along with newsreels related to the First World War.  
  Dramaturge Muhsin Ertuğrul, who began directing films upon the founding of the first private cinema company in 1922, had a lasting influence on Turkish cinema until the 1950s. “Ateşten Gömlek” (The Ordeal-1923) that related the National War of Independence and in which the first Turkish actresses played; the first Turkish film with a soundtrack “İstanbul Sokakları” (The Streets of İstanbul-1931); and “Bir Millet Uyanıyor” (A Nation is Waking Up-1932), are some of the prominent films by Muhsin Ertuğrul, who directed more than 30 films throughout his career. During this period which lasted until 1950 and in which merely a few films were being shot each year, the influence of theater on film making was decisive.  
 

The first film made with cinematographic narration and free of the influence of the theater started with Lütfi Akad towards

 
  the close of the 1950s, who was inspired on one hand by the “Poetic Realism” of French cinema and on the other by the American “Film Noire”, and he applied these influences to Turkey’s own sources. During this period which spanned until 1960, the average number of films shot annually rose to 60. The post-1960 Turkish cinema experien-ced an important revival in terms of quality and quantity. Film directors such as Metin Erksan, Halit Refiğ, Ertem Göreç, Duygu Sağıroğlu, Nevzat Pesen and Memduh Ün studied the social problems in the films they made and shot quite distinctive and successful films in terms of themes, typecasting and nar-ration styles.  

"Halıcı Kız”
(The Carpetmaker Girl),
the first colour Turkish movie
directed by Muhsin Ertuğrul
 
  
  The Ministry of Culture and Tourism extend financial support to private theaters which received around 1,600,000 YTL in 2005.  
 
Playwriting: Turkish playwriting has developed in a social oriented and critical-realistic line since the proclamation of the Republic. However, a generation of powerful and dynamic playwrights emerged only after 1960. During this period, playwrights wrote plays where they attained a Western style in the contemporary sense. Eventually, Haldun Taner, who has made significant contributions to Turkish playwriting for the sake of attaining an identity regarding both content and style, was the creator of the largely politically critical “Cabaret Theater” which utilized all elements of traditional Turkish theater as well as the native epic musical genre with his “Keşanlı Ali Destanı” (The Epic of Ali from Keşan), which was first staged in 1964. During the same period, playwrights such as Güngör Dilmen, Orhan Asena, Turhan Oflazoğlu and Necati Cumalı penned plays of poetic quality, the themes of which were based on Ottoman history, the lives of national heroes and mythology.
 
Playwriting, which entered a stagnant period both in terms of quality and quantity in the 1980s, has been revived in recent years by the dynamic cultural policy of the government. Some of the most popular plays of the last few years include “Sen de Gitme Triyandafilis” (Don’t You Go Too Triandafilis) by Ayla Kutlu, “Gözlerimi Kaparım, Vazifemi Yaparım” (I Close My Eyes and Do My Work) by Haldun Taner, “They Shoot Horses” by Horace McCoy, “Ramazanla Cülide” (Ramazan and Cülide) by Erhan Gökgücü, “Bahçemdeki Ayı” (The Bear in My Garden) by Refik Erduran, “Komşu Köyün Delisi” (The Madman of Neighboring Village) by Üstün Dökmen, “Uçurtmanın Kuyruğu” (Kite’s Tail) by Savaş Dinçel, “Yirmibironbeş Treni” (The 21:15 Train) by Toygun Orbay, “Sığıntı” (The Displaced) by Orhan Asena, and, “Ferhat ile Şirin” (Ferhat and Şirin) by Nazım Hikmet Ran.