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Fearless Coward (Korkusuz Korkak)

Fearless Coward (Korkusuz Korkak)

Movie · 1979 · 12 people

In 1979 Natuk Baytan directed Korkusuz Korkak (The Fearless Coward), a Turkish comedy-adventure with a screenplay by Erdoğan Tünaş and production by Yahya Kılıç. Starring Kemal Sunal, it is remembered as an absurdist comedy of a kind not seen before in Turkish cinema, and as a turning point in Sunal's career.

Sunal plays Mülayim Sert, a lifelong failure. When a mix-up of hospital files leads a doctor to tell him he has six months to live, he loses all fear, turns into someone else entirely and sets off a chain of absurd events around him. Supporting characters known by nicknames enliven the story, among them Ayı Abbas, Gaddar Kerim, Amorti Kazım, Çaycı Bedo, Gerzek Hamdi and Sansar Selim. Its picture of a corrupt city satirizes the late 1970s.

Sunal had found success in the early 1970s as İnek Şaban and began working with Baytan in 1976, continuing it with Sahte Kabadayı, Sakar Şakir and Avanak Apdi. This Istanbul-shot film let him step out of the Şaban mold. It opened on January 11, 1980. Its lines and characters have inspired songs and other works.

DirectorNatuk Baytan

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Cast

Kemal Sunal Kemal Sunal Film actor · died at 55 Mülayim Sert Ayşin Atav Ayşin Atav Actor · 78 years old Turgut Özatay Turgut Özatay Actor · died at 74 Ayı Abbas Muharrem Gürses Muharrem Gürses Actor · died at 85 Yadigâr Ejder Actor · died at 43 Hitman Süheyl Eğriboz Süheyl Eğriboz Actor · died at 86 Mahalleli Celal Yonat Celal Yonat Actor · 1922 – 1993 Arap Zafer Önen Zafer Önen Actor · died at 92 Belkıs Dilligil Belkıs Dilligil Actor · died at 66 Melek Hanım Hakkı Kıvanç Actor · died at 83 Hakkı Kamer Sadık Kamer Sadık Actor · 1911 – 1986 Mülayim Ters Yılmaz Meydaneri Yılmaz Meydaneri Actor · 67 years old Journalist

Also in the cast: Nejat Gürçen, Hikmet Taşdemir, Rıza Pekkutsal

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Through different eyes

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

One of Kemal Sunal's comedies that rarely lets up. Once Mülayim Sert believes he has six months to live and loses all fear, things snowball and the film rushes you from one absurdity to the next. Nicknamed characters like Ayı Abbas, Gaddar Kerim and Sansar Selim bring fresh energy to every scene. It's no action film, of course, but the rhythm is solid. If you're not used to absurd humor, some stretches may feel too scattered.

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

The film in which Kemal Sunal stepped out of the İnek Şaban mold is remembered as a turning point in his career, and with good reason. Mülayim Sert, a lifelong failure, suits Sunal's bashful charm perfectly. Still, I'll confess that absurdist humor isn't always to my taste; in some scenes the noise and exaggeration overshadow Sunal's most sincere moments. For eyes raised on the classics, what stays with you is how Sunal keeps his human warmth even in the most absurd of situations.

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

The picture of extreme social decay in Korkusuz Korkak reads as satire of the skewed order of its era, and that reading still holds today. A lifelong failure turned into someone else entirely by a wrong diagnosis offers a darkly comic take on how a person changes once he thinks he has nothing left to lose. The supporting characters, known by their nicknames, form a gallery that caricatures the urban types of the time. Released on January 11, 1980, the film later reached viewers without easy access to a cinema on VHS, VCD and DVD, which helps explain why it has lasted so long in popular culture.

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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