Biyograficim
Japanese Work (Japon İşi)

Japanese Work (Japon İşi) (translated)

Movie · 1987 · 18 people

Science fiction meets neighbourhood and nightclub humour in Japon İşi (Japanese Job), a 1987 Turkish comedy directed by Kartal Tibet. Erdoğan Tünaş wrote the script, and Kemal Sunal and Fatma Girik share the lead. It runs about 90 minutes. Cem Film made it, with Yahya Kılıç named as producer. Among Kemal Sunal's Yeşilçam films it stands apart for its robot premise.

Kemal Sunal plays Veysel, a nightclub waiter who is hopelessly in love with the singer Başak Billurses. Pursuing Başak is the mafia boss Deli Dilaver, played by Sümer Tilmaç, who wants to marry her by force. Veysel helps a Japanese man during a fight, and as thanks the man sends him a robot that looks exactly like Başak. Fatma Girik plays both the real Başak and the robot. To free the woman he loves, Veysel hands the robot to Dilaver, which sets off a chain of comic muddles. Reha Yurdakul plays the club owner Tahir, Necdet Yakın the head waiter Osman and Asuman Arsan Başak's friend Leman, while Mitsiu Hamaya appears as the Japanese visitor.

The cinematographer is Erdoğan Ç. Ererez. Hakkı Kıvanç appears as the police chief, and the director Kartal Tibet takes a small part himself as a cassette seller.

DirectorKartal Tibet
Production companyCem Film

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Cast

Kemal Sunal Kemal Sunal Film actor · died at 55 Veysel Fatma Girik Fatma Girik Actor · died at 79 Başak/Japon Robot Sümer Tilmaç Sümer Tilmaç Actor · died at 66 Dilaver Reha Yurdakul Asuman Arsan Mitsiu Hamaya Tuncer Sevi Necdet Yakın Teoman Aksoy Tuncay Akça Tuncay Akça Actor · died at 60 Mahalleli Dündar Aydınlı Mustafa Suphi Baltacı Sibel Barış Çetin Başaran Çetin Başaran Actor · born 1940 Dilaver's Man Tayfun Çorağan Kartal Tibet Kartal Tibet Actor · died at 82 Kasetçi Zihni Küçümen Actor · died at 67 Hakkı Kıvanç Hakkı Kıvanç Actor · died at 83 Police Inspector

Also in the cast: Başak Billurses

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Through different eyes

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

Seeing Kemal Sunal and Fatma Girik in the same film is like watching two faces of Yeşilçam meet: the people's innocent, lovable hero on one side, a star known for strong female roles on the other. Girik playing both the real Başak and her robot double adds a playful touch to that meeting. The nightclub, the waiters and the strongman carry the familiar warmth of the old films. The robot idea, though, sits a little uneasily in that world; to my mind the film is most charming when it sets the science fiction aside and returns to its neighbourhood people.

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

A Kemal Sunal comedy, the kind you can comfortably put on with the grandparents. Worth knowing, though: the villain is a mafia boss who wants to force a woman into marriage, and there is a fight along the way. It is all played broad and comic, but younger children may need that part explained. The robot mix-ups are likely to get the biggest laughs from the kids.

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

Japon İşi solves a science-fiction idea with the means of a Yeşilçam comedy and deliberately keeps it modest: in Erdoğan Tünaş's script the robot is not a subject of curiosity about technology but an engine for a comedy of errors. Fatma Girik's double role sits at the centre of that design, the look-alike device used to generate misunderstanding scene after scene. The weakness, as I see it, is how quickly the engine runs down: after the first mix-up the surprises thin out and the story falls back on the familiar strongman-versus-waiter conflict. Dubbing many of the actors was a habit of the period, but the gap between voice and body weakens the credibility of the performances in places.

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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