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Dumb Cousins (Avanak Kuzenler)

Dumb Cousins (Avanak Kuzenler) (translated)

Movie · 2008 · 11 people

The Turkish comedy Avanak Kuzenler (roughly "Dumb Cousins") dates from 2008 and was directed by Oğuzhan Tercan. It follows three cousins who each take themselves for someone far grander than they are, and it draws its humour from the gap between that confidence and reality. The screenplay is by Kerem Arıca, İrfan Saruhan and Batuhan Varuş. The film opened on 26 September 2008, runs 104 minutes and was seen by about 400,000 people in Turkey.

Tankut sees himself as yesterday's Tarık Akan and today's Kenan İmirzalıoğlu, a matinee idol. Serkan is sure he is an inventor who will change people's destinies. Neco dreams of being a Valentino chased by women. What they really share is a contest in cluelessness, and each time they land in a mess, the beautiful, headstrong Melike steps in. Alp Kırşan plays Serkan, Yağmur Atacan is Tankut, Paşhan Yılmazel is Neco and Fatma Toptaş is Melike. Özlem Savaş (Necla), Erdal Tosun (Süleyman), Tuluğ Çizgen (Kevser), Hakan Bilgin (Peştekül) and Macit Sonkan (Muhtar) appear in supporting roles.

Murat Akdilek and Faruk Aksoy produced it, with Fida Film and Aksoy Film behind it and Özen Film handling distribution. Ertunç Şenkay was director of photography and Oğuz Kaplangı composed the music.

DirectorOğuzhan Tercan
Production companyFida Film, Aksoy Film

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Cast

Alp Kırşan Alp Kırşan Presenter · 47 years old Serkan Fatma Toptaş Fatma Toptaş Actor · 43 years old Yağmur Atacan Paşhan Yılmazel Erdal Tosun Erdal Tosun Actor · died at 53 Süleyman Tuluğ Çizgen Burak Öncü İbrahim Kumral Ayfer Çalgıcı Özlem Savaş Macit Sonkan Macit Sonkan Actor · born 1953

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Through different eyes

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Three cousins who think they are far grander than they are makes for simple humour everyone at home can follow. There is no heavy theme and the story is easy to keep up with. Neco's dream of being a ladies' man chased by women may, however, tilt some of the jokes towards teenagers and adults. It works better as a relaxed evening film with teens than with small children.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

The film rests on a single joke: three men who take themselves for a matinee idol, an inventor or a Valentino, colliding with reality. An idea like that can shine in a short sketch, but at feature length it risks repeating itself. Giving the three characters three separate fantasies looks like an attempt to vary the script, yet the structure keeps returning to the same point, the cousins landing in trouble and Melike stepping in, which leaves it close to the formula comedies of its day. Despite a three-person writing team, it feels less like a plot than a string of situations. In my view the premise is fun, but the execution struggles to build a dramatic spine strong enough to carry it.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The most interesting thing here is who the characters measure themselves against. Tankut's wish to be both yesterday's Tarık Akan and today's Kenan İmirzalıoğlu shows how the image of the matinee idol passes from one generation to the next in Turkish popular culture. Serkan, sure he is an inventor, and Neco, the would-be Valentino, read like caricatures of a view that measures success and manhood by show. Against them, the one who steps in at every crisis is the headstrong Melike, which sets up a reversed order: confident but helpless men, and a woman who actually fixes things. The film doesn't dig into this, but it holds up a small mirror to the masculinities of its time.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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