Issiz Adam/Alone

"jenni's movie reviews"...

i watched a turkish movie for a change, Issiz Adam (Alone). its generally very liked by turks, especially women i hear. the director is generally admired and comments about the movie say that it portrays "tortured souls of our times" etc...   i have to say that it was torture to look at it. it is supposed to be a romantic movie, even if with some deep analysis on the desolation of modern life. okay, starting off, the main guy, Alper,  is a successful chef, with a nice flat in a trendy area of istanbul and he has liberal enough parents. he has one night stands and goes to prostitutes. this is where the difference lies, after the prostitute scenes a turkish guy will probably still be comfy associating himself with the male lead. yeah male leads dont have to be perfect and going to prostitutes is not a sin but i just saw a glimpse of turkish culture there. and why do turkish men think stalking women is cool? because successful men in romantic movies dot it too! and it works. also no-means-yes ideology is still reflected in this movie from 2008.


then, there's Ada, the female lead. she is also what i assume women would admire. independent, smart, beautiful, her own boss, living on her own...  and spicy too, when Alper is caught lying, she throws coffee on him. just to apologize later. did Alper ever apologize lying to her (the lie was about his life, in order to get her interest)? no. the movie proves that by stalking and lying u get the girl. oh and when she goes to his place, she is about to leave but he is half-forcing her to stay by grabbing and kissing her. he seems to think no means yes. in the end she stays, just to have herself pinned on the floor for a 10 second sex act. okay, bad sex is a fact of life sometimes and portraying things how they are is not so bad. the disappointment glows on her face. they go to sleep, she gets up in the morning and makes herself coffee, and gets into an argument with him when he wakes up. then she leaves and meets her best friend. best friend recognizes that Ada is clearly in love. right...  i always fall i love after horribly selfish and shitty sex too...??!!

eventually Alper dumps Ada cos the commitment is too much or whatever. years later they meet by accident and we learn that Ada built a family but actually still loves the asshole. Alper is not super happy with his life either. okay this happens. i just dont like the picture portrayed, it could have been done differently. why did he pick her up "turkish style"? and why did she fall for it? i did not find the male lead likeable at all.

i am not expecting movies to be feminist manifests with perfect characters but somehow this really didnt fit my view of how things should be. the movie reflects turkish thoughts of love & sex. aaaand im not so fond of them, i guess. end of story.

the other day i was talking about turkish men with my friend. about how many men seem modern, but deep down they are conservative. and some are openly conservative of course. and very few are "the way we like them". she said its tiring to figure it out and that she might just settle for a conservative guy. this is more less the discussion we had;

friend: i think i could just take a conservative guy...
me: nooo, u cant
friend: why not, its fine
me: no its not, he will tell you what to wear. he will tell you not to wear miniskirts cos it would make u a whore!
friend: well i dont wear miniskirts anyway
me: well, after meeting me, he would tell you that im a slut cos i am wearing a miniskirt!
friend: ohh, thats bad...
me: yeah. then, he would not lick you either since he thinks its eww or that men dont do that...
friend: oh NO! ok then...i guess ur right...
me: yeah. and i coud list more...
friends: those 2 were good enough!