Men on the Bridge Film Review
The second and last Turkish film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival is a treasure by director Asli Özge from Istanbul. Named “Men on the Bridge”, this movie focuses on the story of three men whose only connection to each other is the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul which connects the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side where they work. But there is more than that they share. They live in the charming city of Istanbul, but the gaiety and color of the city, is somehow out of their reach because of their circumstances in life. There is no ode to joy in this film. The lives of these three men in Istanbul do not find joy.
I left the film feeling as if the glamour and beauty and charm of Istanbul were gone. This is not the pretty Istanbul I have known. It shows the endless traffic jams of Istanbul, something I do remember. The film Men on the Bridge presents an Istanbul which disappoints.
Asli Özge’s film takes these things away from the viewer perhaps showing a more realistic view of Istanbul than we all see when we are tourists in the city. She mentioned at the beginning of the film that this project began as a documentary and became a film, part documentary and part the work of her imagination. It shows an underclass which exists in every huge metropolis worldwide that struggles to survive, to find joy, to find love and happiness, something which should be the right of all humankind. It is not always achievable and some human’s lives are fraught with difficulty and struggle than others.
These three separate men come from the poorer suburbs of Istanbul. One young man, Fikret, uneducated and living in poverty, sells roses on the bridge. Another, a policeman named Murat recently transferred from a village in Turkey directs traffic on the bridge. He searches for love and connection on the internet and but does not find it. The third man, Umut, a shared taxi driver, struggles in his marriage because he cannot financially provide all the luxuries his wife expects and demands. Only once do any of these men actually connect with each other when Murat, the traffic policeman kicks Fikret off the bridge for holding up traffic by trying to sell roses to the drivers in cars stuck in the traffic of the bridge of Istanbul.
What these three men have in common is the city they share, their struggle to survive and the Bosphorus Bridge. The traffic jams weave and snake through their lives. They are a part of it. The city they share is not beautiful unless you are a tourist or rich.
Asli Özge’s film, Three Men on the Bridge is her newest film. She was born in Istanbul and studied film at Marmara University. Her previous films include Capital C which won an award, Little Bit of April and the documentary Hesperos’ Apprentices. I look forward to seeing more of her movies from Istanbul.
There were only two Turkish films at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. If you want to see more Turkish movies and if you live outside of Turkey, you will probably have to rent DVDs or, buy Turkish DVDs online. If you live in a city with a Turkish film festival, you’ll be lucky enough to catch more of the Turkish film renaissance at that film festival.
Photo courtesy of TIFF.net
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