KILINK IN ISTANBUL

KILINK IN ISTANBUL (KİLİNK İSTANBUL’DA) , 1967

Turkey | Betacam, B&W, 70’ |

Director: Yılmaz Atadeniz

Cast: İrfan Atasoy, Pervin Par, Muzaffer Tema, Suzan Avcı, Hüseyin Peyda, Mine Soley

These two films which belong to completely different genres seem to be in agreement about the provocative results of becoming a different person through disguise. In Kilink, the mask hides the character’s identity, and in Fıstık Gibi Maşallah characters don female outfits as if wearing camouflage. Kilink’s motionless, smiling skull mask looks like it expresses his mercilessness, malice, and even the joy he gets from being evil. Beyond that, because of this disturbing facial expression it’s not clarified for a long time whether he is the hero or the villain. On the other hand, Fıstık Gibi Maşallah exaggerates femininity to the point of caricature, yet heroines Naciye and Fikriye are immediately accepted by other actresses as if being accepted in a congregation. Furthermore, they break all boundaries and get cozy “female to female”. Doubtless, this acceptance is not due to Naciye and Fikriye being very convincing in playing women. Their success is due to the fact that they are hale and hearty, “normal” men, and the film progresses in that direction. Both films are adaptations of foreign products.Kilink is from the Italian photo novel Killing and Fıstık Gibi from Some Like It Hot. Kilink’s artificiality comes from its preference for anomalistic foreignness rather than adapting its source material straightforwardly. There are girls who walk in bikinis for no apparent reason, whiskey bottles scattered everywhere and Kilink kissing women over his mask as a reward …Whereas, a full-on eclecticism is on display in Fıstık Gibi Maşallahthrough the help of elements such as the East, West, province, roughneckery, plagiarized Hollywood music, whiskey and pepperoni for seduction, belly-dancing to the song “Roll the Dough”, and attempts to legitimatize transvestism. Melting of differences in one pot like making fusion turns into a carnival. Watching these films together is interesting in terms of thinking that when the chemistry is right “Turkishness” can contain many variables, when it’s not it easily and apparently leaves out the “foreign” elements.

Selim Eyüboğlu