The White Angel () is a 2007 Turkish drama film, written and directed by Mahsun Kırmızıgül, which follows the story of two Eastern youths who find themselves in a rest home after their father comes down with cancer. The film, which went on general release across Turkey on , won the Remi Award at the 41st WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival and was the second highest-grossing Turkish film of 2007.
Plot
Ali and Reşat bring their father Ahmet who is suffering from brain cancer for chemotherapy treatment in Istanbul. Unable to bear the treatment and thinking himself to be a burden, Ahmet runs away from the hospital and manages to reach a home for elders. The residents believe him to be abandoned by his children and take him in. Ali and Reşat find him but decide to let him stay when they see that he is happy there. They learn the stories and backgrounds of each of the elders. Two of them, Yaşar and Nebahat have fallen in love and plan to get married. Ahmet arrangers for a big wedding and invites them to his home village in Diyarbakır for their honeymoon together with all the other elders.
Cast
Mahsun Kırmızıgül - Ali
Arif Erkin Güzelbeyoğlu - Ahmet
Yıldız Kenter - Melek
Nejat Uygur - Gazi Cemal
Yavuz Bingöl - Hıdır
Erol Günaydın - Commander Vahit
Sarp Apak - Reşat
Zeynep Tokuş - Nazlı
Toron Karacaoğlu - Yorgo
Salih Kalyon - Hacı
Cezmi Baskın - Sabri
Lale Belkıs - Nebahat]
Ali Sürmeli - Zeki
Tomris Oğuzalp - Suzan
Fırat Tanış - Musa
Fadik Sevin Atasoy - Hatice
Necmi Yapıcı - Ömer
Erol Demiröz - Laz İlhan
Cihat Tamer - Huzurevi Müdürü Tayyar
Nurşim Demir - Bakıcı
Tanju Tuncel - Perihan
Hüseyin Avni Danyal - Selim
Lale Tancı - Sultan Hemşire
Gazanfer Özcan - Palyaço
Emel Sayın - Herself
Suna Selen - Mızgin
Bilge Zobu - Yaşar Hoca
Reception
Reviews
Today's Zaman reviewer M. Nedim Hazar states that the film contains, the East-West contradiction and a comparison of values. It brings the dominating force of the West -- the mind -- and that of the East -- the heart - face to face, but doesn't take a folkloric approach to the East-West comparison as in Yılmaz Erdoğan's movies. Apart from this, it still falls into the marshland of exaggerated caricature-ization which seems to have "worked into the veins" of the celebrities who star in the film. Moviegoers might be fond of this, but it is still an important setback for a movie. He concludes it is a film, that will shock -- in a positive sense -- those whose expectations for the film are very low because of Kırmızıgül. It's also a movie that is very "presentable," whose language and message is very clear. In addition, it contains as much laughter and tears as any Yeşilçam movie does. It should be watched and applauded as a first film of a first-time director..
Awards
41st WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival (Huston): Remi Award.