A Woman's Enemy (Bir Kadın Düşmanı)

A Woman's Enemy (Bir Kadın Düşmanı) (translated)

Movie · 1991 · 13 people

The Turkish drama Bir Kadın Düşmanı (A Woman's Enemy) was made in 1991, shot in color and runs 80 minutes. It takes its story from Reşat Nuri Güntekin's novel of the same name; Ülkü Karaosmanoğlu wrote the screenplay and Hüseyin Karakaş directed. Yağmur Ajans handled the production, with Osman Yağmurdereli and Enver Özer credited as producers.

At the center of the story is Ziya, a naval engineer. His passion for Zuhal, the wife of his business partner, and the mistakes of his past have poisoned his own life. After the death of his partner Necdet his world goes entirely dark and he turns hostile toward women. He leaves Istanbul for a small town, where he meets Sara. Tarık Akan plays Ziya, Meltem Doğanay is Sara, Şebnem Eren is Zuhal and Bülent Polat is Necdet. The cast also includes Efgan Efekan (Doctor Semih), Kâmil Sönmez (Captain Yusuf), Fatma Belgen (Melek), Pelin Körmükçü (Nesibe), Nuri Tuğ (Yasin), Selahattin Fırat (Rıza), Leyla Alnıak (Beyhan), Rafet Kalkan (Ziya's friend) and Emel Özen.

The music is by Özkan Turgay, the cinematography by Abdullah Gürek and the editing by Nevzat Dişiaçık. The film also circulated in a dubbed version: Mustafa Alabora voiced Tarık Akan, Timuçin Caymaz voiced Nuri Tuğ, Zekai Müftüoğlu voiced Efgan Efekan and Zafer Önen voiced Selahattin Fırat.

DirectorHüseyin Karakaş
Production companyYağmur Ajans

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Cast

Pelin Körmükçü Pelin Körmükçü Actor · 56 years old Nesibe Tarık Akan Tarık Akan Actor · died at 66 Ziya Meltem Doğanay Sara Şebnem Eren Zuhal Efgan Efekan Dr. Semih Kamil Sönmez Yusuf Kaptan Fatma Belgen Melek Rafet Kalkan Ziya's friend Nuri Tuğ Yasin Bülent Polat Necdet Selahattin Fırat Selahattin Fırat Film actor · died at 88 Rıza Leyla Alnıak Beyhan Emel Özen child

Through different eyes

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

For lovers of Reşat Nuri Güntekin's novels, this adaptation is a meeting worth having in itself. The title is harsh, but at the heart of the story lies hurt rather than hostility: a man who has poisoned his own life through his mistakes and withdrawn into himself after a loss. A wounded hero leaving Istanbul for a small town and meeting someone new recalls the sincere, quiet vein of melodrama the old masters loved. In stories like this everything depends on the delicacy of the acting and on how patiently the gentle question of whether he can learn to trust people again is handled.

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

Fitting a novel into eighty minutes forces hard choices in adaptation. Past mistakes, a forbidden passion, a death and a fresh start in a small town: a dramatic structure with this many layers can only be summarized in so short a span. The risk is that Ziya's turn towards hostility to women is presented as a given rather than properly prepared. It is also worth noting that the film circulated in a dubbed version; in a cut where the lead's voice belongs to another actor, judging the performance as a whole becomes harder. For anyone tracing the screen adaptations of Güntekin, it is still a link worth seeing.

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

The story centers on a man who makes all women pay for his own mistakes and his loss, and the title says so plainly. Returning to this novel in 1991 reopens the discussion of a kind of masculinity in which hurt turns into anger and generalization, a theme that still feels current. The move from Istanbul to a small town is telling as well: the big city is cast as the place of ruin and the provinces as the place of healing. It is a familiar pattern in Turkish literature, but it risks idealizing the provinces as a refuge and overlooking the pressures of their own.

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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