Biyograficim
First and Foremost, the Homeland (Önce Vatan)

First and Foremost, the Homeland (Önce Vatan) (translated)

Movie · 1974 · 15 people

Cüneyt Arkın and Fatma Girik star in the 1974 Turkish war film Önce Vatan ("Homeland First"). It is in colour, runs 89 minutes, and mixes war, history, drama and action. It opened in cinemas on 1 March 1975. The plot is a love story between a Turkish officer sent to the island during the landing on Cyprus and a woman native to it.

Cüneyt Arkın plays Commander Yavuz and Fatma Girik plays Zeynep. Ceyda Karahan is Canan, Reha Yurdakul is Zeynep's father, and Handan Köksalan plays the daughter of Yavuz and Zeynep. The cast also includes İhsan Gedik (Kara Yorgi), Hamit Yıldırım (Ali), Süheyl Eğriboz (a Greek officer), Renan Fosforoğlu (Canan's father) and Nezihe Güler (Emine). Muzaffer Yenen and Adnan Uygur play Turkish commanders, Gülten Ceylan, Sabahat Işık and Sabahat İzgü play Turkish Cypriots, and many commandos and soldiers fill the fighting scenes. The war around the Pentadaktylos mountains, tanks and paratroopers form the backdrop.

Duygu Sağıroğlu directed the film and wrote the screenplay. Memduh Ün produced it for Uğur Film, with Ören Film handling preparation, and Erdoğan Engin was the cinematographer. Sadettin Erbil dubbed Cüneyt Arkın and Gülen Kıpçak dubbed Ceyda Karahan.

DirectorDuygu Sağıroğlu
Production companyUğur Film
First and Foremost, the Homeland (Önce Vatan)

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Cast

Cüneyt Arkın Cüneyt Arkın Actor · died at 84 Komutan Yavuz Fatma Girik Fatma Girik Actor · died at 79 Zeynep Ceyda Karahan Canan Reha Yurdakul Zeynep's father Handan Köksalan Daughter of Yavuz and Zeynep Renan Fosforoğlu Canan's father İhsan Gedik Kara Yorgi Abdi Algül Actor · 1933 – 2019 Greek soldier Süheyl Eğriboz Süheyl Eğriboz Actor · died at 86 Greek officer Gülten Ceylan Turkish Cypriot Nezihe Güler Emine Sabahat Işık Turkish Cypriot Sabahat İzgü Turkish Cypriot Yılmaz Kurt Greek soldier Zeki Sezer Zeki Sezer Actor · died at 77

Also in the cast: Hamit Yıldırım, Muzaffer Yenen, Adnan Uygur

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Through different eyes

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

Bringing Cüneyt Arkın and Fatma Girik together in one story, Önce Vatan carries a formula Yeşilçam loved onto the battlefield: a love that blossoms in the middle of war. As in our classics, the emotions are open and the characters clear-cut, and the tension between love of country and the heart forms the film's backbone. A daughter in the story suggests that this love becomes a bond reaching across generations. Those looking for a subtle drama may find the telling too fervent, but watching two strong faces of the era together is a value in itself.

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

Tanks, paratroopers, commandos and battles in the Pentadaktylos mountains: on paper it's a full-on war film. The crowded combat scenes look ambitious by the standards of the time. Still, the film gives a lot of room to its love story, so for anyone who only wants the front line, the drama parts can slow things down. Don't expect the effects of today's war films.

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

Önce Vatan brought the Cyprus landing to the screen while it was still very fresh, so it documents the mood of those days more than the history itself. Building the story on the love between a Turkish officer and a woman from the island can be read as an attempt to express, in emotional terms, the bond between soldiers from the mainland and the Turkish Cypriots. As its title signals, the film seeks a shared feeling rather than a debate, and its clear-cut division of sides serves that aim. It is an interesting example of how the cinema of the time reacted to national events, but one should not expect an impartial account of history.

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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