Dry Summer

Dry Summer (Susuz Yaz) (1963... or 1964; I've seen both)

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Metin Erksan

Starring: Erol Tas, Hulya Kocyigit, Ulvi Dogan, Alaettin Altiok

From: Hitit

Here's me continuing my foreign movie watching. This time it's from Turkey and it's not one of those really bizarre films from the 70's or early 80's where they rip off American properties to the point that they illegally stole footage and music from those movies. I am not fully sure why that scene became so bad you had such a thing going on for years, but note that not all cinema from there was like that. Sometimes it was serious too, such as this film, which was on the Criterion box set Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project.

The plot description from Letterboxd: “A scheming tobacco farmer sets out to ruin his competition by diverting the local water to his own property.” Well, actually... a pair of tobacco farmers (they are also brothers) own a piece of land that has a spring; the water from that is used by the fellow neighbors of that part of rural Turkey. Suddenly, a drought happens and the older brother (Osman) becomes a humongous dick and despite the protests of his younger brother he decides to dam up the spring water so his neighbors are restricted from getting that water.

At first I thought this movie was repetitious with the conflict you see. Then, the lurid melodrama aspects kick in and I really began to enjoy it. The younger brother has an attractive young wife and Osman becomes a really disgusting person, constantly leering at her, doing some incredible things which I won't spoil her, and is a Peeping Tom to boot. Osman is quite the character due to how repentantly evil he is, doing awful things from beginning to end and having no redeeming qualities. 

The movie is filmed well and the story of water being so important is an evergreen topic (look at what unfortunately is going on in California) but it's Erol Tas doing such a great job as Osman that makes the film. It's unfortunate that things happened in the Turkish film industry and you got the wackiness in the 70's, and even the director of this had to do what's known in most places as “Turkish Exorcist”.

Now, if only this movie didn't have those horrific moments of animal cruelty... you have been warned there. I'll return tomorrow night.