MOTHERLAND HOTEL

MOTHERLAND HOTEL, 1985

Turkey | DVD, Color, 94’ | Turkish
Director: Ömer Kavur
Cast: Macit Koper, Şahika Tekand, Orhan Çağman

A highly creative adaptation of Yusuf Atılgan’s novel, this memorable film of magical realism tells a psychological story about loneliness and the individual’s inner world. Zebercet is the keeper of a small hotel in provincial Anatolia. One day, a woman visits the hotel. After spending a day together she tells him she will come back and Zebercet starts waiting. As he waits his lack of communication and introverted nature plunge him into profound solitude and madness. A melancholic narrative of not finding one’s place in a repressive society, this socio-psychological film is not only an “auteur” movie but is considered as one of the pioneering films of Turkish cinema, which had taken a turn toward a cinema of character following the 1980 military coup.