D for revolution
D for revolution
One could say many things about the "collective" film "D" made by Metin Yeðin. But the most important is the “thing” the film reminds; revolutionary creativity and will.
Metin Yeðin is a very well known documentarist. His films tell the stories of workers, in Turkey but also in Wales (he shot a very good documentary, 'To go to the moon', about a group of miners in Welsh who ended up buying the last coal mine the Tory government wanted to privatise), in South America, Egypt. "D" is his first feature film and is about a bank robbery and a prison breakout. The robbery is overshadowed by the breakout.
A date is important to remember here: on 24 March 1988, 29 political prisoners broke out from Metris Prison. And the film tells the story of this escape within the context of the 12 September 1980 military coup.
Especially because it is about the “prison breakout” still much talked about by revolutionaries, there is much to say about the film. Besides, the place we are talking about is Metris Prison.
REVOLUTIONARY CREATIVITY AND DETERMINATION
Metin Yeðin must have heard these comments a million times by now, that’s why we don’t need to repeat them again. Moreover, we want to advertise the film to the public, not to the director.
Destroying, wiping out the opposition: this certainly was the aim of the 12 September military coup. But the generals also wanted to prevent people from dreaming. The generals were aware that dreamers are dangerous. Because dangerous are people defending their ideals, whatever the price. "D" tells the story of the revolutionary dreamers imprisoned in Metris and of their escape.
It is easy to guess the difficulties they lived planning the escape; digging a tunnel for hours, making the earth they dig up 'disappear', pumping air into the tunnel, installing an electric line. And then the most important part: to decide who will escape.
The military coup had created a social trauma and dissolved the revolutionary organizations, that’s why films telling about the coup are also traumatic. This film is not. A prison escape is a revolutionary act. And this film handles this by focusing on the revolutionary creativity and determination.
On the technical side, this film is a professional work. Switching between the years is not disturbing. However, the acting could be better. An important criticism we'd like to make is therefore about the acting and also about the fact that this is a “man film”. There are only two women actresses in the whole film, and you only see them a few times. Although is understandable that the 'set' is a men set, being a prison male ward, we would have liked to see more women acting because there were many revolutionary women in those days.
One last comment about the music: extraordinary and impressive. It helped making an enjoyable film even more powerful.
Translator: Berna Ozgencil
Metin Yeðin is a very well known documentarist. His films tell the stories of workers, in Turkey but also in Wales (he shot a very good documentary, 'To go to the moon', about a group of miners in Welsh who ended up buying the last coal mine the Tory government wanted to privatise), in South America, Egypt. "D" is his first feature film and is about a bank robbery and a prison breakout. The robbery is overshadowed by the breakout.
A date is important to remember here: on 24 March 1988, 29 political prisoners broke out from Metris Prison. And the film tells the story of this escape within the context of the 12 September 1980 military coup.
Especially because it is about the “prison breakout” still much talked about by revolutionaries, there is much to say about the film. Besides, the place we are talking about is Metris Prison.
REVOLUTIONARY CREATIVITY AND DETERMINATION
Metin Yeðin must have heard these comments a million times by now, that’s why we don’t need to repeat them again. Moreover, we want to advertise the film to the public, not to the director.
Destroying, wiping out the opposition: this certainly was the aim of the 12 September military coup. But the generals also wanted to prevent people from dreaming. The generals were aware that dreamers are dangerous. Because dangerous are people defending their ideals, whatever the price. "D" tells the story of the revolutionary dreamers imprisoned in Metris and of their escape.
It is easy to guess the difficulties they lived planning the escape; digging a tunnel for hours, making the earth they dig up 'disappear', pumping air into the tunnel, installing an electric line. And then the most important part: to decide who will escape.
The military coup had created a social trauma and dissolved the revolutionary organizations, that’s why films telling about the coup are also traumatic. This film is not. A prison escape is a revolutionary act. And this film handles this by focusing on the revolutionary creativity and determination.
On the technical side, this film is a professional work. Switching between the years is not disturbing. However, the acting could be better. An important criticism we'd like to make is therefore about the acting and also about the fact that this is a “man film”. There are only two women actresses in the whole film, and you only see them a few times. Although is understandable that the 'set' is a men set, being a prison male ward, we would have liked to see more women acting because there were many revolutionary women in those days.
One last comment about the music: extraordinary and impressive. It helped making an enjoyable film even more powerful.
Translator: Berna Ozgencil
