Dizi Planet
Hazal

Hazal

Movie · 1981 · 4 people

Hazal is Ali Özgentürk's first feature film. The Turkish drama was made in 1979 and reached cinemas in early 1981. Özgentürk wrote the screenplay with Onat Kutlar. Centred on custom, it was shot in colour on 35 mm and runs 90 minutes. The story is set in the Mardin region and follows the daughter of a poor village family. Its starting point resembles Orhan Elmas's Ezo Gelin (1968) before it goes its own way.

When Hazal loses her husband she has no choice but to bow to custom and marry his brother, who is about ten years old. Their bond never goes beyond that of mother and son. Türkân Şoray plays the gazelle-eyed Hazal. She defies tradition and runs off to Emin (Talat Bulut), a wall mason she loves, but the lovers are condemned to death so that the village's honour can be cleansed. Meral Çetinkaya, Harun Yeşilyurt, Keriman Ulusoy, Bahri Ateş and Kamil Renklidere complete the cast.

Abdurrahman Keskiner produced the film under the Umut Film banner, with music by Zülfü Livaneli and Arif Sağ, and cinematography by Muzaffer Turan. Hazal won the Grand Prize at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and Meral Çetinkaya took best supporting actress at the 18th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.

DirectorAli Özgentürk
Production companyUmut Film

Reactions

You can pick up to 3 reactions.

Cast

Türkân Şoray Türkân Şoray Actor · 81 years old Hazal Talat Bulut Talat Bulut Actor · 70 years old Emin Meral Çetinkaya Meral Çetinkaya Actor · 81 years old Hüseyin Peyda Actor · died at 71

Also in the cast: Harun Yeşilyurt, Keriman Ulusoy, Bahri Ateş, Kamil Renklidere

Titles sharing this cast

More from this director

Through different eyes

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

Hazal treats custom not as a backdrop but as the story itself. The daughter of a poor village family in the Mardin region loses her husband and is married off to a boy of about ten; without raising its voice, the film shows how harshly this order overrides a woman's will. That it was made at the end of the seventies matters: it stands as a mirror held up to a rural woman's fate, to the idea of honour and to the pressure of the community. The link to Ezo Gelin is telling too, since a similar starting point leads to a very different line of questioning. Watching it today, it is hard not to notice how current the subject still feels.

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

Türkân Şoray's gazelle eyes are almost a language of their own here. In Hazal's silence, her submission and her courage to follow her heart we see a great actress at full maturity. Talat Bulut gives the wall mason Emin a simple warmth. The music by Zülfü Livaneli and Arif Sağ carries the sorrow of Anatolia onto the screen and stays with you after the credits. Meral Çetinkaya, honoured at the Golden Orange, deserves a mention as well. A heavy story, but cinema with a heart.

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

This is not one to watch with children. The subject is very heavy: a young woman married off to a little boy, the weight of custom and a death sentence handed down in the name of honour. The film tells it quietly, but it hits hard. For adults and high-school-age teenagers it is thought-provoking and worth talking about afterwards. Better to watch it once the little ones are asleep, and to take your time with it.

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

Reviews (0)

Log in Log in to write a review.

Comments