Alone (2008)

First i apologize for any possible mistakes but i m not a native speaker. i watched the movie just after a period of great emotional stress , so was kinda easier for me to partly see myself in there . the director indeed uses the stereotypes of the mid 30's successful lonely with flat life male and the sweet , good and unlucky girl that is searching for a lifetime partner , but for me not in an annoying way . the movie had a flow that kept you going on with minor flat parts or exaggerations . the movie deffo is not for an Oscar at any case , but is interesting to watch . despite what many may believe imo , it s totally a guy's movie that puts in a modest way the dilemmas some of us we may have at some point in our lives , like career or family , commitment or not and so on presenting also the complicated at some extend family relations and the " if i had made this choice back then " issues . i think for a guy it's easy to put himself in Alper's position . i deffo recommend this film but if u have fresh " wounds" prepare to feel emotional not only due to the scenario but also 'cause of the amazing , retro , full of feelings music ( 10/10 for the music ) .

Popular Turkish television writer-director Çağan Irmak best known for his series "Çemberimde Gül Oya" and "Asmalı Konak", proved his popular appeal with this particularly modern take on the somewhat overdone Rom-Com genre that has a peculiarly Turkish bent which makes it well worth seeking out for anyone who wants an insight into that country's attitudes to love and sex.Cemal Hunal certainly looks the part of a romantic lead as Alper and is not without his charms but the character he plays is so thoroughly repellent that it is impossible to cheer for him as he attempt to woo the feisty Melis Birkan as Ada, who one can't help but feel should have known better, under the kindly gaze of the brilliant but underutilised Yildiz Kültür as Alper's mother.The filmmakers through in a fair few laughs, normally at Alpers expense, but these mostly relate to his degenerate sexual escapades and do nothing to endear him to the audience and it is this lack of pathos that was for me this films ultimate undoing as even at the end I could barely shed a tear when the film lived up to its English language title by leaving him alone.I'm living with tainted blood.

A tasteless film with the most conventional plot, poor acting, poor camera and poor directing. You will quite vainly look for any deeper meanings or a message. For there is none. It might make some people cry but so do some low quality soap operas. It is quite obvious that the director comes from this background. There is nothing unexpected and the sex scene is one of the least erotic ones after Bodyguard. Fortunately, not the most typical Turkish feature film of our day but unfortunately the one that makes more money and attracts more audience than those worth your money. It would be a relief to know that the director does not have any higher aspirations than making a film for a particular audience that enjoys non-stimulating entertainment and cheap love stories if he had not been honestly puzzled why he was not selected for any, yes, ANY, film festival competition with this one.

It is hard to come across modern day love stories in Turkish cinema and I guess this made a great contribution to the popularity and box-office of the movie. However if you are a believer of old-fashioned love, you might feel a little bit discomforted with the movie, at least I did. The business of falling in love on Monday, making love on Tuesday, breaking up on Wednesday and forget about everything on Thursday has no buy in from me. I guess this kept me a little bit far to the story during the movie. Apart from that, the depiction of modern day city life is quiet successful . Isolation, hunger for love, dilemma of love and freedom are featured in a striking manner. The ending which is praised as the most powerful part of the movie makes no sense for me neither logically nor emotionally.Acting is quiet weak, especially in the beginning of the movie but the charm of the actors saves the day. The mother is an exception to this observation, her voice and acting is very powerful and she contributes a lot to her scenes.Movie soundtrack is superb in the sense that the songs and story are in perfect harmony. I believe the story would never have such an effect on the audience in the absence of the songs.All in all, this movie deserves nothing more than 6 stars. We now expect better movies as this movie proved that Turkish audience is ready to pay for modern day love stories.