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Kırımlı

The Crimean (Kırımlı)

Movie · 2014 · 6 people

Burak Arlıel directed Kırımlı (The Crimean), a Turkish-German historical drama released in Turkey on December 12, 2014. Inspired by Cengiz Dağcı's 1956 novel Korkunç Yıllar (The Terrible Years), it tells of the suffering of the Crimean Tatar Turks held in German prisoner camps during the Second World War. It runs 118 minutes, with dialogue in Turkish, German and English. TFT Yapım made it and Warner Bros distributed it; an Arabic-dubbed version aired on television in March 2015.

The story follows Sadık Turan, born in a Crimea that hoped for freedom after the Russian revolution but met nationalist pressure. Cyrillic replacing the Turkish alphabet at school and the demolition of mosques shake him. He fights as a Red Army officer in the Second World War, is taken prisoner by the Germans and struggles to survive with his friends. Along the way he meets the love of his life, Maria, and the two work together to save Crimea. Murat Yıldırım plays Sadık and Selma Ergeç plays Maria Koseckhi. Also in the cast are Baki Davrak (Bauer), Bülent Alkış (Mustafa), Ali Barkın (Halil), Gülçin Santırcıoğlu (Anette), Burç Kümbetlioğlu (Kılıçbay) and Joshy Peters (Schultz).

Atilla Ünsal and Nil Güleç Ünsal wrote the screenplay and Avni Özgürel produced. Tuna Hizmetli composed the music; Feza Çaldıran shot it.

DirectorBurak Arlıel
Production companyTFT Yapım
The Crimean (Kırımlı) The Crimean (Kırımlı) The Crimean (Kırımlı)

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Cast

Selma Ergeç Selma Ergeç Actor · 48 years old Murat Yıldırım Murat Yıldırım Actor · 47 years old Ali Barkın Ali Barkın Actor · 41 years old Bülent Alkış Bülent Alkış Actor · 52 years old Burç Kümbetlioğlu Burç Kümbetlioğlu Actor · 46 years old Gülçin Santırcıoğlu Gülçin Santırcıoğlu Actor · 49 years old

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Through different eyes

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

Kırımlı turns to a history too little known to wider audiences: what the Crimean Tatar Turks endured in German prisoner camps during the Second World War. Drawing on Cengiz Dağcı's novel Korkunç Yıllar (The Terrible Years) gives it literary roots. The freedom hoped for after the Russian revolution giving way to pressure, the change of alphabet at school and the demolition of mosques are telling details of how a people's identity is worn down. Sadık, a Red Army officer taken prisoner by the Germans, sums up the bind of a people caught between two great powers. For anyone interested in the subject, it is a valuable place to start.

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

A film inspired by a novel as painful as Cengiz Dağcı's Korkunç Yıllar is hard for any lover of literature to ignore. Kırımlı tries to tell a grand, old-fashioned story of love and homeland, with Murat Yıldırım and Selma Ergeç as Sadık and Maria carrying an affection that blossoms in the middle of war. Yet suffering this concentrated across nearly two hours may weigh heavily on some viewers. An eye that longs for the simple touch of the old masters may feel that, in places, fewer words would have said more.

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

A Turkish-German co-production with dialogue in three languages and distribution by Warner Bros, Kırımlı is an ambitious historical drama. Burak Arlıel, working with cinematographer Feza Çaldıran, aims for a large-scale period film. But in trying to fit a people's decades-long suffering, a love story and a fight for survival into the same 118 minutes, the script risks scattering its focus. The wide span from post-revolutionary Crimea to the prison camps leaves some passages feeling rushed. Murat Yıldırım's Sadık is the film's centre of gravity, and actors such as Baki Davrak and Bülent Alkış give the cast depth. The importance of the subject is beyond question, but the film's cinematic language does not always rise to its weight.

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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