‘Kurak Günler‘ (‘Dry Days’, the English distribution title – inaccurately translated – is ‘Burning Days‘) is the fourth feature film by Turkish director Emin Alper, one of the young and brave directors who continue to make films in Turkey (some of them international co-productions, such as this one). It is a well-written film that combines a detective story with a political drama and succeeds in transmitting to viewers an unambiguous message about the dangers of the political and judicial system decaying under the pressure of populism and corruption. The film enjoyed success in Turkey winning 6 national awards and several major awards at the Antalya International Festival, but also caused controversy due to the LGBT insinuations of one of the subplots. For foreign viewers this film is a proof that Turkish cinema continues to offer very good films made by talented filmmakers working in sometimes very difficult conditions.
Overwhelming heat dominates the behavior of the characters. In this respect, ‘Kurak Günler‘ reminded me of another formidable political film – the 1997 ‘In the Heat of the Night’ directed by Norman Jewison and starring Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger. This is not the only point of similarity. Just like in the American film, here too a lawman is sent to a remote place, where the institutions that are supposed to rule for order and justice are either corrupt or under pressure from local rich people in cahoots with asserved politicians. Prosecutor Emre is a young man of law, perhaps in his first post in a remote corner of Turkey. The drought is haunting and the groundwater sources are in the hands of the tycoon who also happens to be the mayor. Their intensive exploitation leads to landslides, but the investigations train, especially as the elections are approaching. The mayor, his family and the surrounding clique try to co-opt the young prosecutor at the local ‘traditions’ and when the attempts seem to fail, to compromise him. His only ally seems to be Murat, a local journalist who also has his own secrets and perhaps not quite innocent family motivations. The situation gets complicated when a young gypsy woman is raped and beaten and Emre finds himself in the situation of an investigator who wants to do justice, but at the same time he is a witness or even possibly a participant in the crime.
Apparently this remote village has institutions that are supposed to enforce the law. There is an intelligent and possibly non-corrupt female judge, police has a chief who follows orders to a point, there is an opposition journal. Elections are also held. But the people are under pressure from those who dominate the local economy and especially manage the most vital resource – water. Manipulate politically and informationally, people turn into a mob driven to violence. The film depicts a process of disintegration of the social fabric which ultimately renders the existence of democratic and legal institutions irrelevant. The last 15 minutes of the film are formidable. The micro-universe of the village – perhaps a metaphor for Turkey but not only, because similar phenomena occur in many other places in the world – enters a whirlwind of violence that seems to erase every trace of humanity. Only the last frame hints to a certain dose of hope, but it is clear that there is much to be done and rebuilt before a return to normalcy.
‘Kurak Günler‘ looks good both as a social drama and as a political thriller – a combination that proves to be a winner here as well. The good knowledge and understanding of human psychology and social mentalities makes so that each of the characters have a distinct profile and at the same time they are representative of their times and places. The cinematography of Hristos Karamanis conveys beyond the screen the heat and dust of the arid region where the story takes place. The performances of the actors are all outstanding, and it is hard to choose who to mention, so I will only write the name of the actor who plays the prosecutor Emre – Selahattin Pasali. ‘Kurak Günler‘ belongs to that category of films with a message and conscience that represent milestones in the evolution of a national cinema school.