Where's Firuze?

"Neredesin Firuze" or "Where are you, Firuze ?" is perhaps one of the best movies of 2004, not only for the Turkish cinema industry but considering the world cinema as well. A slight resemblance to the famous musical "Chicago" might be not an exaggeration too…

A perfectly written screenplay by Levent Kazak and a careful and colorful direction of Ezel Akay makes you stick to your couch until the film ends. Many laughters as well as some eye drops will guide you into an incredibly colored atmosphere with carefully chosen songs, singers, clothes and and performances. Almost one fourth of the Turkish performance actors and actresses take place in some part of the movie too.

The soundtrack is considerably well done. There's one obstacle for it to become a world legend that it carries too much local indigrients that I'm not sure an English ( or any other foreign language ) translation might not be as successful.

I must admit, Haluk Bilginer is at his peak performance in creating a music producer with many abilities except music producing. He is one of the best actors Turkish cinema industry ever met, with long years of experience in British theatres as far as I know. Demet Akbag is at her usual , Ozcan Deniz with perhaps the weakest link covers his actor presence with his magical voice and romantic songs. Ata Demirer is another surprise in the movie. He is a man with many faces and does a great job to entertain us all. Cem Ozer, like Ata Demirer is a talk show man, but I think he is a real actor with observing eyes.

One other surprise is the director Ezel Akay ( he calls himself Ezop ), which couldn't stop himself to take a part in the movie too. As a hit man, he's the sound only that we don't see the face, but who knows, he's something special.

The movie is about the people who seek their chances in music industry with no backgrounds but only a blind courage to make a record. The failures and short successes, the correlation between the mafia and the small people takes us to a totally different world of dreams. The costume designs and sets are amazing, so are the graphical presentations throughout the movie. There's a lot of effort and artful elements put in the movie that, you won't regret you see it at least once. ( I watched it three times already ).

As I watched the DVD version which is also prepared successfully ( with DTS ), I advise all to watch it and have a seriously good time and real entertainment. I too rate it as a 9 out of 10.

Thanks to everyone involved and thanks to Ezel Akay for the joy he brings. I hope this movie will find a way to show itself to world audience, and get what it really deserve.

Saw this in London, the first time I saw a Turkish movie, and bought the ticket by mistake (I actually went in to see The Village!). When I realized I was watching a subtitled Turkish movie, I was about to leave the cinema, but had fifteen minutes before the Village started so I stayed on.

I was expecting a cheesed up Bollywood movie, but I was simply blown away. I stayed till the end. I don't think I have ever been so moved by a movie - it captures the essence of human spirit on the same level as the greatest movies of the 20th century. My only regret is that this will forever be unrecognized in our world. This movie invariably deserves to be in the IMDb to 250 movies of all time, if not in the top 25.

George

Where Are You, Firuze is the kind of movie that does not attract the attention of the mainstream cinema audience in terms of its poster and any marketing material, but after watching it, it makes them wonder why I had not noticed this movie until now. Its director, Ezel Akay, who is a storyteller, reflected his cinematic approach to the film point by point. Although the narrative is fragmented by the intervening music and accompanying visuals, it actually completes a wonderful whole in terms of the story.

I've seen people who make musical analogies for the movie. The question of whether Bollywood movies are musicals explains the musical problematic of this movie.

Neredesin Firuze is a fast-moving, very colorful and lively movie. Ezel Akay, still new to the big screen, successfully demonstrates his original style in film-making. His scenes are crowded, painted in rich, festive colors, and things are in movement most of the time. Despite the continuous movement, sometimes-distracting environments and loud music, Akay seems to be able to keep the tempo under control and he cleverly uses it to visualize emotion.

Despite the movie is essentially a light-hearted satire of the popular culture in modern Turkey, it partially endorses it by employing both thespians and 'popular' people with less cinema experience. Nevertheless, From the master Haluk Bilginer to the singer-to-actor Ozcan Deniz, all the cast members do their job well in this spinning juke-box, and the movie does not bore you for even a second.

The soundtrack is exceptionally good, full of original music and modernized traditional Turkish songs performed by the most popular -and generally, talented- singers in the industry. Even if you do not want to see the movie, give the sound-track a try.

The topic, cinematography, music, little details, and the ending. It's amazing with all its features!!!! Definitely a 10.