Nefes: Vatan Sağolsun as the Worst and the Best Film of the 3rd Yesilcam

Erdoğan Gök

“We’re not here to do the decent thing, we’re here to follow f***ing orders!” – Saving Private Ryan (1998). This is what Tom Hanks as Captain Miller, says to his corporal the reason why he does not have the time to take a lost child to the next town to find her family and get out of any harm. Following that scene, we see that corporal shot by a sniper rifle.

Nefes, this year’s blockbuster, was the most controversial film not only in the public sphere, also in the academy. Film both got the Golden Okra Award, and won 3^rd Yesilcam Awards for Best Film in the same day in 2010. Looking at the aim of Golden Okra Award is mainly symbolizes the hope that the male-dominated view prevailing in the Turkish cinema, the representation of women through this view, and the sexist stereotypes in the Turkish cinema will come to an end in the future. Nevertheless, why was Nefes awarded with Golden Okra? Aren’t the soldiers in Nefes following the given orders for our lives in order to help us to keep our lives on the city? In my point of view, Nefes crew could have had the chance to prevent the Golden Okra without doing any change in the film but by adding small but important details on to the film.