My Father and My Son - Babam ve Oglum is the original title - is one of Turkey’s highest-grossing films ever. Directed by Cagan Irmak, it is a family tale rooted in the heart of Turkish history, specifically drawing on the events of the Turkish Coup d’etat in 1980.
Caught up in those events, protagonist Sadik (Fikret Kuscan) has his life torn apart in front of his very eyes and has to take his son, Deniz, to the safety of his parents home. A home he left many years ago, abandoning his father's dreams and effectively leaving a huge hole in their relationship.
Cetin Tekindor portrays Sadik’s father, Huseyin, wonderfully. At first, his bitterness towards his son feeds the insinuation he will be the villain of the movie, to some degree. Yet, a cute and tender moment where Deniz, his grandson, approaches Huseyin asking about horseshoes shows off Huseyin’s other side - his paternal one. Tekindor balances the line between grumpy old man and sweet old grandfather well and holds the film together, for the most part.
The film relies mostly on the oddball family characters, most of whom welcome Sadik and Deniz with open arms. It’s hard (and risky) to place the full weight of a film on the shoulders of these characters and their supposedly comic relationships, yet it is exactly what Irmak does, unfortunately causing the film to slow to a halt during the second act. Other than Tekindor and Ege Tanman as the young Deniz, none of the other actors can really keep us invested.
The movie neatens up slightly in the final act and switches the comic into tragic. With the whole family coming together it is, again, hard for anyone to really match the acting level of Tekindor so Irmak is wise to give him most of the attention.
This is very much Tekindor’s film and, aside from some pacing issues and weak characters, Turkey shows us they know how to handle a bittersweet family drama.
Score: 60/100