The movie ‘Way‘(El camino, 1981) was the winner of the 1982 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival alongside’Missing‘(Missing, 1982). Time has placed it as a key piece in the birth of a new Turkish cinema, and has the peculiarity of having been written and directed by Yilmaz Güney, while he was in prison for alleged political crimes.
Not only is it a valuable title in itself, but it also serves as a testament to the bravery given by one of the greatest filmmakers in Turkish history, who He told from his own prison the story of five people on probation who must face a personal calamity, recounting the tragedy of a nation with a future linked to its past, attracting glances towards a cinematography until then little appreciated, which would be the first brick for the appearance of names like Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
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Son of peasants, Yilmaz south he alternated his love of cinema with literature, economics and law. In 1961, a novel already earned him his first conviction for alleged communist propaganda. After eighteen months in jail, he acted in about fifty films that allowed him to dedicate himself exclusively to making, until an incident in a local music hall, supposedly killed a young judge, but The trial raised questions about the legality of the arrest for the identity of the unverified murder weapon, and testimony that could have been manipulated to create an excuse to lock up Güney, who always pleaded not guilty.
The Way of the Cross by Yilmaz Güney
Thanks to his popularity, he had a good safe environment in prison that even allowed him to watch movies, stating that he even felt safer inside. There he wrote three scripts, two novels and several articles for Turkish and international media. It also allowed him to draw inspiration from his own peers and experiences to create ‘Yol’, whose production took place from January to August 1981, while Güney was still imprisoned, which was not a problem for him to carry out the filming under his tutelage.
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The script for ‘Yol’ was very long, about 150 pages, and was directed by Güney through explicit messages to his trusted assistant. Serif Gören. Güney explained the items he wanted to appear on screen with all clear instructions. Gören spent three days with Güney to discuss doubts and questions, and then they kept in touch by mail. Only once, Güney received permission to go see the location of a part of the film, the snowy scene of Seyit Ali. Güney also received cooperation from the authorities for the realization of Yol, convincing them of the opportunity to positively represent their policies (sic) and, curiously, the soldiers who appear are real military men.
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However, the Turkish cameras were forced to shoot ‘Yol’ as a silent film, so many details could be created in the editing room. A friend of Güney’s helped him escape from prison in 1981, and later, the negative was smuggled to Switzerland, where Güney was able to edit it quietly after his escape. Güney always emphasized that the film was not created by him, but by the actors and Gören, and the truth is that he knew the expected approach of the images and Güney trusted him.
Escape, post-production and victory
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From October 2, 1981 to May 1982, he was able to edit the film in Switzerland and sync the dubbing in France, all of which happened in secret. Turkish voice actors were found at the Institut Kurde de Paris, but Güney also used his own voice for some role. Surprisingly, he was able to present ‘Yol’ finished at the 1982 Cannes film festival, something that is significant, since among the charges against him was a letter he wrote to the Valladolid festival in 1980 in which he denounced the fascist dictatorship that reigned in Turkey and to which his cinema usually refers. He won the Palme d’Or ex aequo with ‘Missing (Disappeared)’, by Costa-Gavras.
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He himself explained a The country the persecution to which he was subjected when he presented his film in Spain:
“I have suffered several arrests. One, for helping students who favored the independence of the Turkish people; another, for participating in a brawl in which a fascist judge died. Although they could never prove my guilt in that death, I was sentenced to eighteen years jail.
But this did not stop my cinematographic activity: I drew my scripts shot by shot, talked to the actors and gave very precise instructions to my assistants, who were in charge of filming what I indicated. His particular choice determined the final reality of each film, but all of them were born from my clandestine works “.
‘Yol’ a brave cry from the depths
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So, he got to direct three films from jailThat’s why he was not much different from some of the characters in ‘Yol’, which is about prisoners on short leave visiting their families to bring up many controversies in Turkey. There he collected the history of his cellmates. who told him about the incidents of their departures and permits, in 11 testimonies which synthesized the five from the film, leaving out some very powerful ones, like that of a man who spent his week of freedom searching for a missing son,
Interestingly, he could have held a story similar to that of ‘Missing‘in his film, as he himself said “although it is not developed in Turkey. Countries are not very different when they suffer the same oppression“. ‘Yol ‘denounced the dictatorship of Turkey, the force of archaic customs that impede the freedom of the individual and a culture that restricts the freedom of man Through a panorama of the country’s society at that time, from inequality to discrimination, seeing her images makes it more clear the danger and daring which led her to be banned in Turkey.
‘Yol’ made clear the reasons for problems such as terrorism, opposition, and youth rebellion, exhibiting the political stance of the State and individuals on cultural conditions. It is still difficult to find the uncensored film there. During his exile in France the government of Turkey revoked his citizenship and a court sentenced him to an additional twenty-two years in prison, but he was already filming his latest film in France about the brutal prisons with children in his country. He finally died shortly after in Paris of cancer at age 47, on September 9, 1984.
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