Bliss

“Bliss” confronts the ancient cultural rulesthat are practiced in modern day Turkey andaround the world under the names of “morality”,“religion” and “family honour”. Young Meryemis found raped outside her village. Her familydecrees that she should be punished for hermisdeed. Meryem’s cousin, a military soldiernamed Cemal, is ordered to bring her to Istanbuland force her to commit suicide – avoiding hernow “dirty” blood on his hands.Taken from the novel “Bliss” by Zuful Nivaneli,the nasty plot has been made into a Hollywoodlikefilm were the production is faultless andthe wide-shot photography by Bosnian MirsadHerovic is dynamic and colourful. However, themost touching scenes are the most reluctantones – mostly thanks to actress Özgü Namal’sminimalistic expressions of Meryem’s doubt and fear: one day a wish for death, the othera strong lust for life. Stripped of the politicalsubtext found in Nivaneli’s novel and showingTurkey as a modernly conscious nation that isopen to democratic discussion, “Bliss” couldalso be considered a well-polished politicalstrategy at a time when Turkey strongly urgesfor European membership.

Premiere Status
Swedish Premiere: Orig. title
Mutuluk: Cast
Talat Bulut, Özgü Namal, Murat Han: Producer
Abdullah Oguz: Script
Elif Avan, Kubilav Tuncer, Abdullah Oguz: Cinematography
Misrad Herovic: Music
Zülfü Livaneli: Spoken language
Turkish