By – Gareth Jones

For fans of Turkish cinema, great child performances, prison dramas

Originally released in 1989, the recent MUBI 4K restoration of this classic Turkish film Don’t Let Them Shoot the Kite is an incredible revelation of a specific time in Turkish cinema, but also still an extremely timely story.  It is directed by the great Tunç Başaran, who directed nearly 50 films in his career. This film is co-written by Feride Çiçekoğlu, and based on her novel about her own experiences as a political prisoner after the Turkish coup in 1980.

The story is told from the perspective of Inci, played by the luminous Nur Sürer, who radiates a positiveness throughout the film. At the beginning she is travelling back to the land of Ankara where she was imprisoned.  This is presented in a very poetic manner, which sets the tone for the entire film. The film then goes back and forth between the past and the present, but the majority of the film is in the past during her imprisonment.  Her imprisonment in turn is framed around her relationship with the young boy Barış, played with stunning range and sincerity by five year old Ozan Bilen.  His performance ranks up there for me with so many great child performances.  His mother is in prison for smuggling drugs for her husband and in Turkish women’s prisons the children were also imprisoned with their mothers.  This is a heartbreaking policy but one that allows for Inci and Barış to develop a unique relationship and connection.

The story tells roughly a year in the life of these women and Barış as they try to make the best of a horrible situation.  They are kept in very tight quarters with almost no outdoor space.  They pace back and forth in a small alcove trying to get some exercise and fresh air. It is here where Barış sees a kite one day.  He does not know what it is but Inci explains and draws a picture of it with chalk. This serves as a beautiful metaphor for the temporality of their existence.

The story of a young child learning about the world is one of my favorite genres.  This fits in perfectly with such masterpieces as The Spirit of the Beehive, Cinema Paradiso, and Where is the Friend’s House?.  Ozan Bilen’s natural performance has the same quality as each of these.  In all of these films, the children are able to be children first giving them the performance a rawness that cuts to the core.

The film was actually shot in a few different real prisons, which of course gives the production design a level of authenticity that would not be captured otherwise.  The aesthetic of the film is also mirrored in the costumes and music.  The costumes reflect the different ethnicities and ages/generations of women in the film.  The mix of petty criminals with political prisoners allows for class conversations and critiques of the patriarchal system.  The head of the prison with his ineffective toadies is reminiscent of the comedy of The Fireman’s Ball by Milos Forman. In both cases, the comical moments serve as strong critiques of the system.

Ultimately, the performance of Bilen as Barış is the key to the film.  The image of him walking around the prison in a giant pink sweater and finding small pleasures even in the toughest of situations.  It is a message of hope that is just as important today as it was in 1989.

Available to stream on MUBI