Bliss - Movie Review

When ignorance has its roots in meaningless customs that place a misguided sense of honor above human life...it simply is not bliss. That is the premise at work in the 2007 Turkish film Bliss. The United States box office for this film barely reached $40,000 which must have been due to poor marketing and extremely limited release. This is a film that would probably make money if it were released again to a broader audience with the right blend of marketing.

Bliss takes place in a pastoral part of Turkey that clings to traditional values. The film opens with a shepherd discovering the bloody body of a young girl from the village named Meryem (Ozgu Namal). There is no clear dialogue for the first few minutes of the film as the strong visual elements tell much of the story. We soon discover that Meryem lives with her father and (wicked) step-mother. Meryem does not remember the details of the traumatic rape that transpired at some point before the start of the film. Her father's cousin, Ali Riza (Mustafa Avkiran) is harsh man and community leader. To avoid the shame that Meryem has brought on the family, it is decided that she must be killed. Although Meryem was the victim of a rape, she does not recall the events and cannot name the aggressor. It is therefore assumed that she was a willing participant.

Meryem's step-mother attempts to get Meryem to kill herself to restore honor to the family. Although she contemplates the act, Meryem is unable to follow through. It is decided that Ali Riza's son, Cemal (Murat Han) will take Meryem on a train under the guise of traveling to Istanbul. The plan is for Cemal to throw Meryem from the train in the mountains. Cemal is a hardened veteran who served in the Army as a Commando. He appears to hold fastidiously to the old ways, but shows cracks in his tough exterior. He finds himself unable to follow through with his duty several times. The pair become quasi fugitives from the family when they are taken under the wing of a good Samaritan named Irfan (Talat Bufut). While spending time with Irfan, the two slowly adjust to new ideas about their own future.

Bliss surprised me. I thought it would be decent but feared that the subject matter (honor killing) might limit the range of the writing. It did not. Writers Kubilay Tuncer and Zulfu Livaneli did an excellent job of crafting believable characters while building a story that was tender, humorous and suspenseful. The elements blended nicely into an intriguing story of changing attitudes and belief systems. Coming of age love stories have been done by Hollywood ad nauseum. Yet this Turkish film finds fertile ground to take a fresh look at the subject. I felt connected to the characters and found their struggles to be genuine and credible. I am amazed that this film did not seen wider distribution.

My knowledge of Turkish film was non-existent prior to Bliss. The actors are all unknown to me, which provides me an unbiased canvas upon which to paint my impressions. Namal has the toughest role, because she has to say a lot without saying much at all. Her slow progression from near silence to her new found ability to express herself are carefully captured by Namal's tremendous performance. She was complemented by Han, who provided a nice balance. Han's character experiences a gradual move from old ways to new, while balancing his own emotions that he finds hard to confront. The two are brought into balance by Bulut, who acts as mentor to the young couple. Bulut's character was not quite as developed as the other two, but does have enough dimension to engage the audience. Much of the success attributed to his character are a testament to Bulut's performance. He brought a quiet gentle wisdom to the role while managing to brood a bit. I thought the cast was awesome.

Bliss takes the difficult subject of honor killing and turns it into a coming-of-age love story complete with intricately balanced characters and an amazing backdrop. The story was well written, engaging and fresh. Even the pacing managed to move at a surprising clip for a love-oriented story. The film did not get bogged down in sappy sub-plots and managed just enough lack of predictability to keep things interesting. Although you have an idea where things are going, the timing keeps you off balance. Well done. 8/10.

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