Reviewer's Rating 2 out of 5 听 User Rating 3 out of 5
Lovelorn (G枚n眉l Yarasi) (2005)
15Contains strong language and brief moderate violence

A minor Turkish melodrama that's easy on the eye but not the watch, G枚n眉l Yarasi follows ageing minicab driver Nazim (Sener Sen), who picks up more than just another passenger when he befriends nightclub singer D眉nya (Meltem Cumbul). His grown-up kids think he's lost his marbles, but Nazim wants to help the beautiful young woman and her daughter escape her abusive ex-husband. Things aren't that simple, though, as G枚n眉l Yarasi tries to live up to its melancholy English title: Lovelorn.

"The woman is a rascal and the man is a lunatic - don't get caught in between," warns Nazim's greying pal Atakan (S眉mer Tilma莽) an old-time cabbie with plenty of experience on the clock. He's not the only one who's worried: Nazim's kids think the singer's a gold-digging floozy who's after their inheritance, while D眉nya's violent ex-hubby (Timu莽in Esen) just wants to get custody of their traumatised - and now mute - daughter.

"A LIGHTWEIGHT TALE"

Wife beating, rape and child abduction may sound awfully serious, but nothing's ever that terrible - or threatening - in this lightweight tale. Lathering the more threatening moments in soapsuds, G枚n眉l Yarasi works best when playing up the comedy. Cantankerous old Atakan steals the show as a bellowing ex-heavy grown fat and old, leaving gifted Turkish actor Sener Sen to look as unconvinced by the tart-with-a-heart storyline as the rest of us. A confrontation over the family's inheritance and an undeveloped political subtext threaten to turn the movie sour yet, apart from a few mournful nightclub ballads, the lovelorn tears seem insincere.

In Turkish with English subtitles.

End Credits

Director: Yavuz Turgul

Writer: Yavuz Turgul

Stars: Sener Sen, Metlem Cumbul, Timu莽莽in Esen, G眉ven Kira莽, Devin 脰zg眉n 脟inar

Genre: Drama, World Cinema

Length: 143 minutes

Cinema: 28 January 2005

Country: Turkey

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