Biyograficim
Süt

Milk (Süt)

Movie · 2008 · 7 people

Semih Kaplanoğlu directed Süt ("Milk"), a 2008 drama co-produced by Turkey, France and Germany. It is the second film of the director's Yusuf trilogy, which began with Yumurta (Egg, 2007) and ended with Bal (Honey, 2010) and deals with the loss of tradition and its effect on people. The trilogy moves backwards in time, and Milk shows Yusuf's youth before adulthood. Kaplanoğlu later won the Golden Bear in Berlin for Bal. The film opened in Turkey on 2 January 2009 and runs about 103 minutes.

Yusuf is an ordinary young man. He has failed his university entrance exam; he helps his mother Zehra sell milk and cheese while trying to get his poems into magazines. His dreaminess unsettles his mother, who expects him to be the man of the house. One day he finds out that she is seeing a man; he cannot accept it, yet indecision keeps him from reacting. At his military medical he learns that an illness will keep him out of service, a confrontation in a male-dominated society: Yusuf has to change, but can he? The film is set in Tire, near İzmir. Melih Selçuk and Başak Köklükaya lead, with Saadet Işıl Aksoy, Tülin Özen and Rıza Akın.

The screenplay is credited to Kaplanoğlu and Orçun Köksal.

DirectorSemih Kaplanoğlu
Milk (Süt) Milk (Süt) Milk (Süt)

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Cast

Başak Köklükaya Başak Köklükaya Actor · 52 years old Melih Selçuk Melih Selçuk Actor · 42 years old Rıza Akın Actor · 1955 – 2022 Saadet Aksoy Saadet Aksoy Actor · 43 years old Şerif Erol Şerif Erol Actor · 63 years old Tansu Biçer Tansu Biçer Actor · 48 years old Tülin Özen Tülin Özen Actor · 46 years old

Titles sharing this cast

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Through different eyes

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

Süt is the middle part of Kaplanoğlu's Yusuf trilogy, which moves backwards in time, and that reverse chronology invites you to read it as part of a whole rather than on its own. Yusuf's story rests less on big events than on small fractures: the failed university entrance exam, the poems sent off to magazines, discovering that his mother is seeing a man, the military medical. The director's refusal to blow these up into dramatic outbursts looks like a deliberate choice; Yusuf's indecision seeps into the form itself. The mother-son tension between Melih Selçuk and Başak Köklükaya is the film's load-bearing column, and choosing Tire as the setting gives it a concrete sense of place. Still, that restraint sometimes turns into distance and makes it hard to connect emotionally with the character. A film that gains in value when considered alongside Yumurta and Bal.

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

As part of the Yusuf trilogy, which deals with the loss of tradition and its effect on people, Süt paints a portrait of youth stuck in the provinces. Set in Tire near İzmir, it follows Yusuf, a young man who has failed his entrance exam, sells milk and cheese with his mother and looks for another life through his poems. His mother's expectation that he be the man of the house, and the military medical, make plain the role a male-dominated society assigns to a young man. Rather than denouncing that pressure loudly, the film chooses to observe it, which makes it less a thesis film than a quiet record of a provincial world where tradition is coming apart.

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

I know Kaplanoğlu went on to win the Golden Bear in Berlin with Bal, the trilogy's last film, but Süt was a tough watch for me. The story is built on a young man's indecision, and the film watches that indecision without ever hurrying. There's tension, but it stays inside and never quite bursts out. If you're used to calm, reflective cinema, try it; if you want pace and thrills, this one isn't for you.

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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