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Piano Girl
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Wikipedia article
'Piano Girl' is a 2009 Turkish comedy-drama film, directed by Murat Saraolu, starring Tark Akan and erif Sezer as two elderly people forced to question their histories and reveal their big secrets. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on , was the opening film at the Sinema Burada Film Festival in zmir, Turkey, and has since been screened in competition at a number of other film festivals, including the 46th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, where, according to Terry Richardson, writing for Today's Zaman, 'the rapt audience gave it a standing ovation.'
The defunct 'Today's Zaman' mistakenly stated that both Mishka and Popuch were "Molokan". Mihska was the last Russian and 'Malakan', and Popuch was Turkish Muslim.
Plot
After the Russo-Turkish War of 18771878, Russia acquired part of eastern Anatolia, including Kars province. To quickly populate the area with Russians, undesirable heretics, Spiritual Christians, from Russia ('Malakan' in Turkish) were given incentives (more land, military exemption, no taxes) to resettle in Kars Oblast in eastern Anatolia.
Among the resettled families is Mika's ('Mishka' is Russian for "little Micheal"). They operated a water-powered grain mill along a river. Mika (Tarik Akan) grows old, buries his brother, and now operates the only mill in the village. He cannot compete with new electric
mills. He tries to sell apples to pay his bills.
In the meantime, the cranky old woman of the village, Popu (erif Sezer), hates Mika and does not want him in the village. She owns the store to which poor Mika owes money. Dreamy flashbacks reveal that Mika and Popu fell in love in their youth and his Christian parents forbid him to marry outside their faith. The young Mika and Popu are played by the actual children of the parent actors.
Popu lives with her son Semistan (Levent Tlek), daughter-in-law Figan (Zuhal Topal) and three grandchildren. However, the smallest and most wayward of her granddaughters, Alma, is musically talented and befriends the elder Mika who teaches her on his old piano, and pays for her education at the Kars music academy. Alma will help two elderly people question their histories and reveal their big secrets.
When Mika dies, Popu with a change of heart, intervenes because she is the only Muslim who knows how to properly bury a Christian Malakan.
Cast
* Tark Akan as Mika
* erif Sezer as Popu
* Zuhal Topal as Figan
* Levent Tlek as emsitan
* Korel Cezayirli as Metin retmen
* Murat Aydn as Fezo
* Ozan Erdoan as Tavan
* Muhammet Cangren as Allahyar
* Levent Uzunbilek as Mirza
* srafil Parlak as Adbe
* Havin Funda Sa as Esme
Release
General release
The film opened in 133 screens across Turkey on at number seven in the Turkish box office chart with an opening weekend gross of $99,761.Festival screenings
* 2009**Sinema Burada Film Festival
**46th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
**4th Bursa International Silk Road Film Festival
* 2010
**21st Ankara International Film Festival
Reception
Box office
The film reached number five in the Turkish box office chart and has made a total gross of $614,899.Reviews
Terry Richardson, writing for Today's Zaman, describes the comic drama as, 'Entertaining if melodramatic.'Some reviewers noted there was little information about the Malakan people.
See also
* 2009 in film
* Turkish films of 2009
References
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