79. Dilber Ay; movie review

 

DILBER AY

Cert 15

129 mins

BBFC advice: Contains domestic abuse, strong violence, sexual violence

Our favourite Turkish film so far? Well, certainly one of them.

This true story about the young life of famous singer Dilber Ay is startling in its cruelty but uplifting in how she managed to come through it.

Zeliha Kendirci plays teenage Dilber who is brought up in extreme poverty in a tented village with a father (Ayberk Pekcan) who sees her merely as a commodity.

This was one of Pekcan's final roles (he died in January) and he portrays with great effect a man who believes it is up to him whether his daughter lives or dies and he doesn't much care either way.

Thus, for even a minor misdemeanour, she is punished by being chained up or, even worse, having her fingers broken.

But his worse crime is to sell her off at the age of just 13 to a husband (Deniz Hamzaoğlu) who is even worse.

For years, poor Dilber has no way out of the constant beatings and even when she runs away fiends and fate conspire against her.

By the time she is an adult she is played by Büşra Pekin who gives a glimpse into the seedy showbusiness world in which she is first forced to make her mark.

Hakan Kırvavaç's film concentrates almost exclusively on the singer's early life which she was clearly lucky to survive.

We winced at the brutality of the beatings and the inhumanity of those to whom Dilber turned for help. 

Kendirci's is utterly convincing as the poor wretch whose childhood is robbed from her by uncaring men. Pekin excels in her portrayal as Dilber reaches her 20s and beyond.

However,  as neither Mrs W nor I were aware of Dilber Ay previously we would have liked to have seen more about her adulthood.

This would have included her singing career but also the violent period in Germany and her tragic death.

Nevertheless, we found the movie enthralling.

Reasons to watch: Riveting if brutal true story

Reasons to avoid: Left some unanswered questions

Laughs: None for us but some for the native speakers

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? Dilber Ay suffered from inflammation in her foot after cutting her toenail and died on 29 April 2019 at a hospital in Ankara.

The final word. İbrahim Karakaş (Dilber Ray's husband in later life):  “Of course, I was very touched while watching the movie. I couldn’t hold back my tears at the scene where she was married at a young age." SeriesTurkish.com

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