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Battal Gazi Destan
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Wikipedia article
'Battal Gazi Destan' ('Battal Ghazi Legend') is a 1971 Turkish historic action film. Starring Cneyt Arkn, it is a depiction of the life of the legendary Muslim 'Serdar' of Malatya, Battal Gazi. It is one of the numerous historic movies of Cneyt Arkn.
Plot
Hseyin Gazi, the father of Battal Gazi, is killed in an ambush by three Byzantine warlords. His son decides to take revenge. Two of the warlords are rather easy targets and Battal manages to eliminate them but the last warlord turns out to be the Byzantine Emperor, Leon. In his journey, Battal faces with the greatest Christian knight, Hammer. After a fight between the two, Hammer loses and converts to Islam and becomes the best friend of Battal Gazi.
The film carries on the classical patterns of the Turkish cinema in many fields. First, there are clear prejudices about the Byzantine side. They are depicted as vandals. Second, there is a couple of battles where Battal fights against a whole army and defeats them all. Third, the fancy medieval costumes, like Byzantine hats made of brooms, are present in the film too. It is also a well known film for its quotes which are even used as samples in songs. The most famous one is being '"Ben senin kanck kelleni dlek bedeninden ayrmaya geldim!"' (I came here to tear your bitchy head off your coward body!).
Another setback in the film is the depiction of Battal Ghazi as a Turcoman. While, there is a possibility of such a thing, Battal was probably an Arab. Malatya wouldn't fall under the Turkic control until the arrival of Seljuks in the 11th century. Still, the film is a popular milestone in the "wave of history" in the Turkish cinema between the late 1960s and early 1980s.
Cast
* Cneyt Arkn ... Battal Gazi / Hseyin Gazi
* Fikret Hakan ... Ahmet Turani / Hammer
* Meral Zeren ... Aye
* Reha Yurdakul ... Hileryon
* Kerim Afar ... Imperator Leon
* Melek Grgn ... Irene
* Aynur Akarsu ... Faustina
* Erden Alkan ... Deliba Kiryos Alyon
* Ali Taygun ... Bizans Kargas Polemon
* Niyazi Er ... Budala Testor
* Ekrem Gkkaya ... Vezir Abdusselam
* Atf Kaptan ... mer Bey
* Baki Tamer ... Tevabil Usta
Production
Release
References
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