A SONG TO LONG FOR

A SONG TO LONG FOR (BEKLENEN ŞARKI) , 1953

Turkey| Betacam, B&W , 95’ |

Director:Sami Ayanoğlu

Cast: Zeki Müren, Cahide Sonku, Sami Ayanoğlu, Jeyan Mahfi Tözüm, Abdurrahman Palay, Bedia Muvahhit, Talat Artemel

When Raj Kapoor’s Awaara (1951) was released in Turkey it became a big phenomenon. Two years later Zeki Müren, who always had a place in his repertoire for Egytian and Indian film music, starred in his first filmBeklenen Şarkı. Zeki Müren’s own story of his beginnings is very similar to the story of the Zeki character he is in the film. Just like in real life, Zeki replaces the radio diva who has fallen sick, and captivates everyone with his voice. It’s hard to know which came first: Zeki Müren or his myth. In Turkey, Beklenen Şarkı became one of the most popular examples of films starring singers. Becoming a sub-genre of melodramas, these singers’ films were not only using the singer’s name and songs, but also shaping their public images. With his courtesy, diligence and style, Müren was a representative of moderate Westernisation. He was using his own voice in his films refusing to be dubbed, and setting the criteria for national “appropriateness” with his crystalline use of Turkish.
In 1974, just like Beklenen Şarkı, Mavi Boncuk, a film which stands on the threshold of singers’ films evolving into the arabesque boom, was sending a social message through the image of a popular singer: the sanctity of family. Arzu Film, established by Ertem Eğilmez in the ‘60s, was going to leave an indelible mark in the ‘70s with its family comedies with large cast of actors. Turkey’s sweetheart at the time, Emel Sayın, who plays herself in the film, is kidnapped by a group of men. Mavi Boncuk makes the definition of being a “good person” as it tells the story of wretchedness in a changing Istanbul through Emel Sayın’s captivity. The film tells the process of Sayın giving up her famed life in favor of being a part of this warm family environment which she doesn’t necessarily have blood ties with. On the walls of the house they keep her in hangs the poster ofAwaara along with other film posters. When the ice between her and her abductors starts to melt, she asks about the posters. The father of the family points to the poster of Awaara and says “The films that saved our lives.” This answer is also the definition of the relationship that singers’ films have with the masses.

Zeynep Dabak