Yol (1982)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Directors:

Serif Gören
Yilmaz Güney

Writer:

Yilmaz Güney (writer)

Release Date:

1 September 1982 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A harsh portrait of Turkey, its people and its authorities, shown through the stories of five prisoners given a week's home leave...

Plot Keywords:

Turkey | Prisoner | Socialist Realism | Military Occupation | Racism

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Tarik Akan	...	Seyit Ali
Serif Sezer	...	Ziné
Halil Ergün	...	Mehmet Salih
Meral Orhonsay	...	Emine
Necmettin Çobanoglu	...	Ömer
Semra Uçar	...	Gülbahar
Hikmet Çelik	...	Mevlat
Sevda Aktolga	...	Meral
Tuncay Akça	...	Yusuf
Hale Akinli	...	Seyran
Turgut Savas	...	Zafer
Engin Çelik	...	Mirza
Hikmet Tasdemir	...	Sevket
Osman Bardakçi	...	Berber Elim
Enver Güney	...	Cindé
Erdogan Seren	...	Abdullah

Directed by
Serif Gören		(for imprisoned Yilmaz Güney)
Yilmaz Güney		(by proxy Serif Gören)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Yilmaz Güney		writer

Produced by
Yilmaz Güney	....	co-producer
Edi Hubschmid	....	line producer
Donat Keusch	....	producer
Eliane Stutterheim	....	producer

Original Music by
Sebastian Argol
Zülfü Livaneli

Cinematography by
Erdogan Engin

Film Editing by
Hélène Arnal
Yilmaz Güney
Elisabeth Waelchli

Production Management
Kerim Pulli	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Turgay Aksoy	....	assistant director
Muzaffer Hiçdurmaz	....	assistant director
Ahmet Soner	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Loïs Koenigswerther	....	sound

Other crew
Marie-Christine Malbert	....	press agent

Production Companies

• Cactus Film

Distributors

• DFK Films (2009) (worldwide) (all media)
• NEF-MK2 (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• Artificial Eye (UK)
• Poletel (Brazil) (video)
• Triumph Films (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

The Way (International: English title) (copyright title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Switzerland

Language:

Turkish | Kurdish

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Turkey

Company:

Cactus Film

Trivia:

Tarik Akan, in his book of memories, tells that he is not the one who actually shoots the horse in the scene where the horse cannot continue walking and the Akan character decides to ease its death

Truly a masterpiece

The artistry of this movie is astonishing in virtually every aspect of its filmmaking. What makes that all the more remarkable is that the footage was all shot by the assistant director in Turkey then taken to Switzerland for Yilmaz Güney (a brilliant writer/director who had to leave Turkey to escape persecution and imprisonment, mostly because of his empathy for the plight of the Kurdish people under Turkish rule) to edit and dub. The cinematography is colorful, rich and varied. The musical sound track is beautiful and well-integrated. The various subplots seem to echo and build on each other. Somehow, while making the grim realities of modern Turkey all too evident, this film also left me with a feeling of the indomitability of those who struggle for freedom.