Nihavend Mucize

Nihavend Miracle (Nihavend Mucize) (translated)

Movie · 1997 · 4 people

Atıf Yılmaz directed and produced the 1997 Turkish fantasy comedy Nihavend Mucize (Nihavend Miracle) from a screenplay by Zeynep Avcı. It opened on October 27, 1997, runs about 94 minutes and was produced by Delta Film and Star TV. Türkân Şoray, Haluk Bilginer, Lale Mansur and Beyazıt Öztürk share the leads. Yılmaz had earlier made fantasy-tinged comedies such as Ahh Belinda and Arkadaşım Şeytan.

The story centers on Erol (Haluk Bilginer), who runs a film studio with a partner and has grown cold toward life since his mother's death; his relationship with girlfriend İris (Lale Mansur) is faltering, and he is at odds with the father he blames. Twenty-five years after her death, his mother Suzan (Türkân Şoray) returns at the age she died, unable to ignore his loneliness. Facing a very different world, she struggles to adjust until the interest and support of Erol's partner Nejat (Beyazıt Öztürk) help her recover. Her mission is to repair her son's bond with İris and his father and put his life in order, while also answering the affection of Nejat, whom she has charmed.

Love scenes criticized at the Antalya Golden Orange and Adana Golden Boll festival screenings were cut by the director just before release. It opened in Germany in 1998.

DirectorAtıf Yılmaz
Production companyDelta Film, Star TV

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Cast

Through different eyes

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

Seeing Türkân Şoray as a mother who returns to her son's life twenty-five years after her death is a heart-warming idea. Atıf Yılmaz carries the fantasy touch of Ahh Belinda and Arkadaşım Şeytan into a more emotional story here. The mother's effort to rescue her son from loneliness gives the film a warm moral centre. The contrast between Haluk Bilginer's Erol, grown cold toward life, and Şoray's tender Suzan works beautifully. A big-hearted fable that marries the grace of old Yeşilçam to the language of the nineties.

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

Nihavend Mucize, from Zeynep Avcı's script, has an intriguing idea in fusing the lost-mother motif with fantasy comedy. Suzan returning at the age she died creates an elegant paradox about age and time, and the strangeness of the generational bond between Şoray and Bilginer grows from it. The problem is tone: the film tries to carry at once her mission to reconcile her son with his father and with İris, Nejat's affection and Suzan's adjustment to a new world, and in about 94 minutes none of these threads deepens enough. Beyazıt Öztürk's comic energy and the weight of the drama don't always seem to belong to the same film. That the director cut love scenes criticised at festival screenings just before release also leaves a question mark over the integrity of the final version.

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

Nihavend Mucize is a sweet fantasy comedy about a mother who comes back from death to help her son. It has lovely messages about family ties and a father and son making peace. The love scenes criticised at festivals were cut before release; even so, it suits teenagers and adults more than small children. The themes of death and loneliness may upset some kids.

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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