''Ateşten Gömlek'' (The Daughter of Smyrna or The Shirt of Flame) is a 1923

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

Turkish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

, co-produced by Kemal Seden and Şakir Seden, written and directed by

Muhsin Ertuğrul Muhsin Ertuğrul (28 February 1892 – 29 April 1979), also known as Ertuğrul Muhsin Bey, was a Turkish actor and director. Life His mother, Fatma Dilruh Verdrich is of German descent. His father is Hüseyin Hüsnü Paşa. Muhsin Ertuğrul, ...

based on a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

of the same title (published in 1922) by

Halide Edib Adıvar Halide Edip Adıvar ( , sometimes spelled Halidé Edib in English; 11 June 1884 – 9 January 1964) was a Turkish people, Turkish novelist, teacher, and a nationalist and Feminism, feminist intellectual. She was best known for her novels criticiz ...

. The movie marks a milestone in the

cinema of Turkey Cinema of Turkey or Turkish cinema (also formerly known as ''Yeşilçam'', which literally means ''Green Pine'' in Turkish language, Turkish), () or Türk sineması refers to the Turkish film industry, film art and industry. It is an importa ...

as for the first time ever Turkish

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

actresses, namely Bedia Muvahhit and Neyyire Neyir, featured in a movie. It is in general about some events during the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

(1919–1923). Its remake with the same title was released in 1950, directed by Vedat Örfi Bengü. The movie was premiered on 23 April 1923, the third anniversary of

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

's foundation at Palas Sinema in

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...

, Istanbul. It was shown to audience in two separate ticketed screens.

Plot

The husband and the little son of Ayşe, featured by Bediha Muvahhit, are killed by

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

troops during the occupation of Izmir (1919–1922) after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–1918). With the help of an Italian Levantine family, Ayşe, slightly wounded, goes to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, where she lives in the home of her paternal first cousin Peyami. There, she meets Major İhsan, a friend of Peyami. The three takes part at protest rallies against the occupation of Izmir held at

Sultanahmet Square The Hippodrome of Constantinople (; ; ) was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square in Istanbul, Turkey, known as Sultanahmet Square (). The word ''hippodrome'' ...

. However, following the

occupation of Istanbul The occupation of Istanbul () or occupation of Constantinople (12 November 1918 – 4 October 1923), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, by United Kingdom, British, France, French, Italy, Italian, and Greece, Greek forces, took place in accordan ...

by the Allied forces briefly after, she is forced to escape to

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

accompanied by Peyami. The two joins the military unit of the Turkish National Resistance led by Major İhsan. Ayşe helps by nursing and Peyami becomes an officer subordinate to İhsan. Both men, İhsan and Peyami, fall in love with Ayşe. This love turns into a "shirt of fire" (Ateşten Gömlek) for both. Ayşe, however, has a heart for İhsan only. İhsan gets wounded in action, and she treats him. Meanwhile, İhsan promises to marry her after he enters Izmir as the first Turkish soldier. In order to draw Ayşe's attention, Peyami intends also to be the first soldier in Izmir. Peyami is

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

soon after. Ayşe, hearing the bad news, runs to the front, but she is also killed by enemy shrapnel shell.

First Turkish Muslim actresses

The novel ''Ateşten Gömlek'' written by Halide Edib Adıvar (1884–1964), a

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

activist, who actually participated in the Turkish War of Independence, was first appeared as serial in the newspaper ''İkdam'' between 6 June and 11 August 1922 before it was published in book form. Since it became of great interest, its filming came into question. In the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, acting of Muslim women in movies was not allowed for reasons of religion. In all the movies, the woman roles were played by the Christian or Jewish women of

minorities in Turkey Minorities in Turkey form a substantial part of the country's population, representing an estimated 25 to 28 percent of the population. Historically, in the Ottoman Empire, Islam was the official and dominant religion, with Muslims having more r ...

. Adıvar stipulated that she would only permit her novel be filmed when the lead role is featured by a Turkish Muslim woman. Muhsin Ertuğrul (1892–1979) asked his friend Ahmet Refet Muvahhit whether his newly married wife Bedia Muvahhit (1897–1994) would be eligible for the lead role. She accepted to feature as Ayşe. For the supporting female role of Kezban in the movie, a newspaper advertisement was published. Only one woman, Münire Eyüp (1902–1943), applied. She played in the movie under the pseudonym Neyyire Neyir. She later married to Muhsin Ertuğrul.

Cast

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atesten Gomlek 1923 films 1920s war drama films Turkish black-and-white films Turkish war drama films Turkish-language films Films set in Turkey Films directed by Muhsin Ertuğrul 1923 drama films Turkish War of Independence films Works about the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)