The Bandit | Eskiya 1996

"-çok korkuyorum eşkiya.. çok.. beni bırakma..
-korkma.. önce toprağa gideceksin.. sonra toprak olacaksın. sonra bir gül olacaksın.. o güle bir arı konacak.. o arı ben olacam.."

The Bandit | Eskiya Turkey, France, Bulgaria
1996 121 minutes, color
Production Company: Filma-Cass, ArtCam International, Geopoly ; Directed by: Yavuz Turgul, Writing credits:Yavuz Turgul ; Produced by:Gulengul Arliel .... co-producer,Abdullah Baykal .... executive producer,Georgi Cholakov .... executive producer, Pavlina Jeleva .... executive producer, Sener Sen .... executive producer, Eliane Stutterheim .... executive producer, Yavuz Turgul .... executive producer, Mine Vargi .... producer, Ömer Vargi .... producer, Ugur Yücel .... executive producer ; Original Music by: Askin Arsunan, Erkan Ogur ; Cinematography by:Ugur Icbak
Film Editing by: Hakan Akol,Onur Tan ; Casting by:Rengin Altun ; Art Direction by:Idil Akcil(co-art director),Selda Cicek (co-art director),Ziya Ulkenciler ; Costume Design by: Gulay Dogan, Ozlem Sekercioglu.
Cast (in credits order)
Sener Sen ... Baran
Ugur Yücel ... Cumali
Sermin Hürmeric ... Keje (as Sermin Sen)
Yesim Salkim ... Emel
Kamran Usluer ... Berfo (as Kamuran Usluer)
Ulku Duru ... Mother of Emel (as Ülkü Duru)
Özkan Ugur ... Sedat
Necdet Mahfi Ayral ... Andref Miskin
Kayhan Yildizoglu ... Artist Kemal
Güven Hokna ... Sevim
Kemal Inci ... Mustafa
Melih Cardak ... Demircan
Settar Tanriogen ... Laz Naci (as Settar Tanriögen)
Celal Perk ... Deli Selim
Umit Cirak ... Cimbom (as Ümit Cirak)
Riza Sonmez ... Avarel (as Riza Sönmez)
Romina ... Sekine
Kezban Sardan ... Fatma (as Kezban Altug)
Kurtcebe Turgul ... Jilet Cemal
Can Yilmaz ... Hakan
Yurdan Edgu ... Father of Cemali
Zubeyde Erden ... Ceran
Cevat Capan ... Man on the Street
Selim Erdogan ... Cop #1
Hakan Kiremitci ... Cop #2
Hakan Bilgin ... Cop #3
Yasar Uzel ... Cop #4
Yosi Mizrahi ... Cop #5
Konuralp Sunal ... Cop #6
Nazim Sutluoglu ... Demircan's Man #1
Erkan Kara ... Demircan's Man #2
Erdal Atik ... Demircan's Man #3
Suat Tok ... Demircan's Man #4
Mahmut Gungor ... Demircan's Man #5
Ahmet Erciyes ... Demircan's Man #6
Tarkan Oguz Yasli ... Demircan's Man #7
Hakan Sutluoglu ... Dj
Burc Bakan ... Bodyguard


Synopsis
After serving a 35-year jail sentence, Baran, a bandit, is released from prison in a city in Eastern Turkey. The first thing he does is to return to the village he left. But the village has been long submerged under an artificial reservoir. Baran's undoing was Berfo, a friend who had once been closer to him than a brother. In order to snare Keje, Baran's sweetheart, Berfo seized his best friend gold and have Baran arrested by the gendarme on Mountain Cudi. Then Berfo purchases Keje from her father against her will, and disappears. According to rumor, he is in Istanbul. While traveling to Istanbul by train, Baran meets Cumali, a young man. Cumali was raised in the alleys of Beyoglu, his life revolving around bars, gambling joints, alcohol, dope and woman. Cumali dreams of joining the mafia and making it big. He takes Baran to a dilapidated hotel in the backstreet's of Beyoglu. After a while, Cumali and friends discover that Baran used to be a bandit, but they can't take it seriously. For them, it is just a laugh. Cumali's dreams of a new life include Emel, his girlfriend. Emel has a convict brother, who is in trouble with the other prisoners in his jail. His life is in danger, and he needs high amount of money to get out. Cumali promises Emel to get the Money for her brother as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the bandit is going through Istanbul in a daze, lost in totally alien world, with no idea where to start looking for the woman he loves and the mortal enemy who was stolen her...

References:L.G.[GUICHARD, Louis]
Télérama n.2525 , 03 June 1998, p.62, French

J.-Y.K.[KATELAN, Jean-Yves]
Premiere (0399-3698) n.255 , June 1998, p.74, French, illus
Brief credits and review

THORAVAL, Yves
Avant-Scène du Cinéma (0045-1150) n.473 , June 1998, p.104, French

dock: Eskya-Premiere in Berlin
Film-Echo/Filmwoche n.42 , 18 October 1997, p.8, German

BLANEY, Martin: Marketing News: Turkish delight
Screen International (0307-4617) n.1121 , 15 August 1997, p.13, English, illus
on the marketing for Turkish films in Germany

YOUNG, Deborah
Variety (0042-2738) , 05 May 1997, p.76, English