Biyografi Dünyası
Av

The Hunt (Av) (translated)

Movie · 1989 · 3 people

Safa Önal wrote Av (The Hunt), a Turkish film of 1989 that Melih Gülgen both directed and produced. Classed as a drama, adventure and emotional picture, it was shot in colour on 35 mm and runs about 90 minutes. Cüneyt Arkın and Serdar Gökhan lead the cast, with Gülben Ergen also in it. The story turns on a blood feud, prison, flight and pursuit.

At the heart of the plot is a blood feud between two families, with deaths on both sides. Bekir (Cüneyt Arkın), the feud's latest victim, goes to prison and, once out, does not want to continue the bloody cycle. The other side has not lost its grudge and has filled its younger generation with thoughts of revenge. Even after his younger brother, home on leave from Germany, is killed, Bekir does not strike back; he goes to Istanbul, but his enemies follow him there too. The cast includes Serdar Gökhan as Yusuf, Gülben Ergen as Meral, and also Salih Kırmızı (Kemal), Sami Hazinses (Nuri) and Osman Alyanak (the barber Halil Bağcı).

The cinematographer is Serdar Servidal and the production company is Gülgen Film. The lead actors were dubbed: Toron Karacaoğlu voices Cüneyt Arkın and Zekai Müftüoğlu voices Serdar Gökhan.

DirectorMelih Gülgen
Production companyGülgen Film

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Cast

Cüneyt Arkın Cüneyt Arkın Actor · died at 84 Serdar Gökhan Serdar Gökhan Actor · 83 years old Gülben Ergen Gülben Ergen Actor · 54 years old

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Through different eyes

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

Av treats the blood feud not just as a revenge story but as a burden handed down from one generation to the next. Bekir, out of prison, refuses to keep the bloody cycle going, while the other side raises its young on hatred, and that contrast clearly shows how tradition hems in the individual. The detail of the younger brother home on leave from Germany is a reminder of the place labour migration held in 1980s Turkey. And the fact that even fleeing to the big city is no escape suggests the supposed distance between village and city is far shorter than it seems.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

Cüneyt Arkın and Serdar Gökhan in the same film, plus a blood feud, flight and pursuit: on paper it's a proper genre picture. At about 90 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome either. But Bekir's refusal to hit back may test anyone expecting a fast revenge movie; the tension builds for quite a while before it breaks. For Arkın fans it's still not one to miss.

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

Safa Önal's screenplay builds the familiar blood-feud narrative from an interesting angle: the hero's real conflict is as much with his own urge to answer violence with violence as with his enemies. That gives Cüneyt Arkın a good chance to turn his tough-guy image into an inward resistance. However, the genre mix, swinging between drama, adventure and melodrama, lets the tone scatter at times. The leads being voiced by Toron Karacaoğlu and Zekai Müftüoğlu also opens up, to today's eyes, a gap between performance and voice. Serdar Servidal's colour 35 mm photography, meanwhile, widens the film's sense of space as the story moves to Istanbul.

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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