Başka Dilde Aşk

Love in Another Language (Başka Dilde Aşk)

Movie · 2009 · 11 people

İlksen Başarır directed Love in Another Language, a 2009 Turkish drama, and co-wrote the screenplay with Mert Fırat. Shot in Istanbul, it opened nationwide on December 18, 2009.

The story begins when Onur, a young deaf man, meets Zeynep at the birthday party of Vedat, a friend from his rowing team. After a night spent together in a noisy bar without exchanging a single word, Zeynep realizes Onur cannot hear, yet this does not push her away. Onur, though able to speak, has chosen silence because of the pitying looks around him; Zeynep, who left home after learning of her father's affair and drifted through several jobs, now works under harsh conditions at a call center, talking to strangers on the phone all day. Between them grows a bond that needs no words, and alongside their romance the film highlights the difficult working lives of call-center employees.

Saadet Işıl Aksoy, Mert Fırat and Lale Mansur lead the cast. The film collected prizes at the Antalya, Bursa and Ankara festivals; at the 21st Ankara Film Festival Fırat won Best Actor and Aksoy Best Actress. In a 2014 public poll by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, it was voted among the 100 best Turkish films.

Directorİlksen Başarır
Love in Another Language (Başka Dilde Aşk) Love in Another Language (Başka Dilde Aşk) Love in Another Language (Başka Dilde Aşk)

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Cast

Through different eyes

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

It has been a long while since a love story let silence say this much. Onur, who can speak but chooses not to because of the pitying looks around him, and Zeynep, knocked about by life yet still standing straight, carry the pure, clean feeling of the old melodramas into present-day Istanbul. No surprise that Mert Fırat and Saadet Işıl Aksoy were both honoured in Ankara; they act with glances and small gestures. A whole night in a crowded bar without a single word... a more graceful beginning is hard to find. A delicate film for anyone with an open heart.

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

At first glance this is a love story, but its real strength lies in two kinds of invisibility. On one side is a deaf young man who has chosen to go quiet because of the pity he meets; on the other, a call-center worker who talks to strangers on the phone all day yet cannot make her own voice heard. By placing the harsh conditions of that work behind the romance, the film becomes a small but valuable record of late-2000s Istanbul. It also deserves credit for treating deafness not as a dramatic trump card but as an everyday reality.

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

Honestly, this is not my kind of film. No tension, no chases, a calm pace from start to finish and silent moments that run long. Still, the pull between the two leads is real, and watching two people try to understand each other without words dragged less than I expected. If you want something fast, look elsewhere; for a quiet evening, it is worth a try.

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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