Rebel (İsyan) (translated)

The Turkish film İsyan (Rebel), from 1979, is a drama with a sentimental streak shot in colour on 35 mm. It tells of a young man and a village rising against a landlord who holds seven villages in his grip through border smuggling. Orhan Aksoy directed from a screenplay by Sadık Şendil. It runs 83 minutes and was made by Arzu Film.

The events take place in a mined border region. The Agha, played by Erol Taş, lives off smuggling. The father of young Apo, Memo (Reha Yurdakul), works as one of his smugglers and dies on a mine, and the family is too afraid of the landlord even to claim the body. Kadir İnanır plays Apo, who is secretly in love with Ayno (Melike Zobu), the daughter of the villager Şahan (İhsan Yüce). To raise the bride-price he asks the Agha for a place on a smuggling run, which the Agha sees as a chance to be rid of him. When the Agha's son Şeyhmuz (Hakan Bahadır) takes a liking to Ayno as well, a bitter chain of events begins, built on custom, honour and power. Güler Ökten and Sabahat Işık also appear.

Music is by Ali Rıza Binboğa, cinematography by Ertunç Şenkay and production by Nahit Ataman. The film shows how the landlord system and the pressure of tribal custom crush the villagers.