Biyograficim
Carousel (Atlıkarınca)

Carousel (Atlıkarınca) (translated)

Movie · 2010 · 3 people

A heavy family secret, incest, lies at the center of Atlıkarınca (Merry-Go-Round), a Turkish drama that İlksen Başarır directed in 2010. It opened in cinemas on April 1, 2011, and runs 93 minutes. Başarır and Mert Fırat, who also plays one of the leads, wrote the script together, teaming up again after Başarır's award-winning first feature Başka Dilde Aşk; months before its release the film had been picked for the competition of the 47th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.

Erdem, Sevil and their children Edip and Sevgi live in a small town until Sevil's mother suffers a stroke and the family moves to Istanbul. Edip has spent ten years at boarding school and grown distant from home, while Erdem still dreams of becoming a good writer. Noticing her daughter's withdrawal and sudden changes of mood, Sevil starts questioning what has happened at home and uncovers a secret kept behind closed doors for years. When Erdem dies in a traffic accident, new secrets surface, and each family member is left alone with truths they must carry for life.

Mert Fırat and Nergis Öztürk lead the cast, with Sercan Badur as Edip. The film won Best Screenplay at the Golden Orange, and the young actress Zeynep Oral received a special award.

Directorİlksen Başarır

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Cast

Mert Fırat Mert Fırat Actor · 45 years old Erdem Nergis Öztürk Nergis Öztürk Film actor · 46 years old Sevil Sercan Badur Sercan Badur Actor · 36 years old Edip

Also in the cast: Zeynep Oral

Titles sharing this cast

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Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Merry-Go-Round chooses to approach incest, a subject our cinema rarely tackles head-on, without leaning on sensationalism, and turns the silence behind closed doors into a storytelling principle. The script that Başarır co-wrote with Mert Fırat builds the secret not as a twist but as a weight pressing on every member of the family, which makes its Best Screenplay award at the Golden Orange well earned. Yet the new secrets that surface one after another later on sometimes overload the structure, and in a 93-minute film some characters never deepen enough. A strong thread like the distance of Edip, ten years at boarding school, is left at the margins.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The film is a reminder that abuse within the family feeds above all on silence. The shifting order of a family moving from a small town to Istanbul also shows how migration and the big city can shake family ties. Sevil noticing her daughter's withdrawal and starting to ask questions raises important points about a mother's role and about the home as a space treated as private. Bringing a long-unspoken issue into view is socially valuable, but because the film concentrates on individual pain, it leaves the surroundings, institutions and social structures that produce that silence somewhat in the background.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humor and heart.

This is not a film for children, nor one to put on at a family gathering. Its subject is incest; it's heavy, sad and disturbing. For adults it speaks about something important, and the story of a mother noticing sudden changes in her daughter is especially thought-provoking. But know what you're getting into before you press play, and make sure no little ones are around.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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