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Somuncu Baba: The Secret of Love (Somuncu Baba Aşkın Sırrı)

Somuncu Baba: The Secret of Love (Somuncu Baba Aşkın Sırrı) (translated)

Movie · 2016 · 12 people

Sufi mystic Sheikh Hamid-i Veli, known in Anatolia as Somuncu Baba, is the subject of Somuncu Baba Aşkın Sırrı (Somuncu Baba: The Secret of Love), a Turkish historical drama made in 2016. It is adapted from Mahmut Ulu's novel of the same name. A road story, it joins Hamid's secret-filled life journey to his search for a divine love he cannot yet name. It reached Turkish cinemas on April 1, 2016.

Young Hamid, grieving for his father and longing to find himself, takes refuge in a dervish lodge. He serves by baking bread and works hard at his studies; soon the favorite of his teacher, he accepts a surprise marriage at the teacher's wish. Yet his yearning for divine love grows. Somuncu Baba is described as one of the cornerstones of the line of thought reaching Akşemsettin, teacher of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, and the conquest of Istanbul. Furkan Palalı leads the cast as Somuncu Baba, with Tuvana Türkay as Necmiye, Gürkan Uygun as Yıldırım Bayezid, and Yunus Emre Yıldırımer as Hacı Bayram-ı Veli.

Kürşat Kızbaz and Müge Kıraner directed, and Ulu and Kızbaz wrote the screenplay. Imagine Film and VSG Prodüksiyon produced it, with Levent Vural behind the camera and music by Engin Arslan, Murat Başaran and Mustafa Ceceli.

DirectorKürşat Kızbaz, Müge Kıraner
Production companyImagine Film, VSG Prodüksiyon

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Through different eyes

AI-assisted editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives. They are not reader reviews; those are below.

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

By its subject, Somuncu Baba is a calm film that suits family viewing. At its center is young Hamid, who takes refuge in a dervish lodge after losing his father and tries to find himself. It is the story of a young man who bakes bread, studies hard and is devoted to his teacher, and it carries good values. Grandparents with an interest in spiritual themes will enjoy it. But the film is long and slow, and life in a dervish lodge won't hold the youngest's interest. Better to watch it with teenagers and talk about it afterwards.

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

Through the life of Sheikh Hamid-i Veli, known in Anatolia as Somuncu Baba, the film looks at the dervish lodge as a place of learning and solidarity in everyday life. Serving by baking bread while pursuing scholarship in the same life opens an interesting window onto the spiritual and social order of the period. Linking the story to Hacı Bayram Veli, to Bayezid I and on to Akshamsaddin and the conquest of Constantinople under Mehmed II also shows how the production views history. It is worth remembering that it adapts a novel by Mahmut Ulu: this is not a documentary but a reading of a novel, and it is best watched in that light.

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

Directed by Kürşat Kızbaz and Müge Kıraner, the film tries to shape a mystic's inner journey as a road story, a structure that suits cinema very well. Levent Vural's camerawork and the music by Engin Arslan, Murat Başaran and Mustafa Ceceli set its emotional tone. The trouble is a trap common to this kind of life story: the hero is treated less as a person than as an example. The inner conflict, described as a yearning for a divine love he cannot name, struggles to take dramatic shape, and the pace sags in places. A sincere effort for those drawn to the subject, but a cautious piece of filmmaking.

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