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Where's Firuze? (Neredesin Firuze)

Where's Firuze? (Neredesin Firuze)

Movie · 2004 · 22 people

Unkapanı, the heart of Istanbul's cassette and CD trade, is the setting for the satirical musical comedy Where's Firuze? (Neredesin Firuze). It opened on 20 February 2004, directed by Ezel Akay from a screenplay by Levent Kazak, based on a story by Özcan Deniz. The film looks back at the years when the record business's golden age was slipping away and turns the industry's predicaments into comedy with a bitter edge.

Hayri (Haluk Bilginer) and Orhan (Cem Özer) are producers sunk in debt after a run of failed cassettes. Their way out seems to be Ferhat Can (Özcan Deniz), a singer living in Germany whose voice they hear over the phone. Ferhat, set on becoming a star, accepts at once and comes to Istanbul, but the debts stop the cassette from being pressed. While he tries to make his name on a television show, the wealthy, mysterious Firuze (Demet Akbağ) walks into the office and offers to invest in him. The clouds over Umut Müzik lift and everyone starts dreaming again. Şebnem Dönmez, Ata Demirer, Ragıp Savaş, Janset and Zeynep Eronat also appear.

IFR produced the film and UIP distributed it, with Hayk Kirakosyan as cinematographer. Akay, who came from advertising, gave it a striking look, though one critic pointed to serious problems in the script.

DirectorEzel Akay
Production companyIFR
Where's Firuze? (Neredesin Firuze) Where's Firuze? (Neredesin Firuze) Where's Firuze? (Neredesin Firuze)

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Cast

Ahu Türkpençe Ahu Türkpençe Actor · 49 years old Ayşen Ata Demirer Ata Demirer Film actor · 54 years old Hamit Hayran Cem Özer Cem Özer Actor · 67 years old Orhan Demet Akbağ Demet Akbağ Actor · 65 years old Firuze Erol Büyükburç Actor · died at 78 Esin Afşar Esin Afşar Singer · 1936 – 2011 Ezel Akay Ezel Akay Film director · 65 years old Kaveci Güner Özkul Güner Özkul Actor · 60 years old Neval Haluk Bilginer Haluk Bilginer Actor · 72 years old Hayri Kalıpçı Janset Janset Actor · 55 years old Sibel Murat Akkoyunlu Murat Akkoyunlu Actor · 53 years old Tatü Özcan Deniz Özcan Deniz Actor · 54 years old Ferhat Can Ragıp Savaş Ragıp Savaş Actor · 60 years old Melih Ruhi Sarı Ruhi Sarı Actor · 54 years old Seyfi Şebnem Dönmez Şebnem Dönmez Actor · 52 years old Melek Zeynep Eronat Zeynep Eronat Actor · 63 years old Sansar Ayberk Pekcan Ayberk Pekcan Actor · died at 51 Pislik 1 Mustafa Üstündağ Mustafa Üstündağ Actor · 49 years old Pislik 2 Müslüm Gürses Müslüm Gürses Singer · died at 59 Special Guest Star Özge Özberk Özge Özberk Actor · 50 years old Model Fatih Ürek Fatih Ürek Film actor · died at 59 Emre Menekşe Tuncay Akça Tuncay Akça Actor · died at 60 Komik Tiyatrocu

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Through different eyes

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

A story set as the golden age of Unkapanı, of cassettes and the record business, slips away: Neredesin Firuze stirs something in anyone who remembers those years. Haluk Bilginer and Cem Özer, as producers drowning in debt, are both funny and pitiable, and Demet Akbağ's mysterious Firuze adds a colour all her own. The music, naturally, takes a leading role. Yet the satire sometimes tips into noise and the story wanders; it never quite captures the tidy warmth of the old musical comedies.

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

Ezel Akay, a director who came from advertising, gives Neredesin Firuze a striking look, and Hayk Kirakosyan's cinematography turns the world of Unkapanı into a colourful, almost caricatured stage. The idea of satirising the record industry's decline is a bold one too. The trouble is the script. Levent Kazak's screenplay gathers many threads, debt, the hunger for fame, television and a mysterious investor, but fails to tie them into a tight dramatic structure. The serious problems one critic pointed out seem to stem largely from here. At 132 minutes, the rhythm slackens further. It is the performances of Haluk Bilginer, Cem Özer and Demet Akbağ that really hold the film up.

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

Neredesin Firuze takes on Unkapanı, the hub of the cassette and CD trade, at the moment the industry's golden age was ending. In that sense it is a small portrait of the music business: producers sunk in debt, a would-be singer from abroad, television shows as the road to fame, and money of uncertain origin. Ferhat's arrival in Istanbul from Germany, dreaming of stardom, also touches on the link between migration and popular culture. The film tells all this with bitter humour, but because its satire so often leans on caricature, it stops short of a deeper reading of the era's economic change.

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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