''Five Cities'' () is a 2010 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 ...

, written, produced and directed by

Onur Ünlü Onur Ünlü (born 24 June 1973) is a Turkish film director, screenwriter, poet and actor. He is best known for hit surreal comedy series Leyla ile Mecnun ''Leyla ile Mecnun'' (''Leyla and Mecnun'') is a Turkish television comedy series. The se ...

, about a young policeman just arrived in Istanbul who falls in love with a woman in a candy shop. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on , won awards at film festivals in Antalya and Istanbul and has been described as, ''an absurd poetic tale of five seemingly unrelated people’s lives.''

Synopsis

Aydın is a policeman recently appointed to a new post in Istanbul. While trying to get used to life in the big city, Aydın stumbles upon Mehtap, a young woman who works at a candy shop in Beyoğlu, and he falls for her. But there is no way that Aydın can make Mehtap realize that he even exists, just as Şevket, a young man who has dropped out of law school before starting to sell toy trains on the streets to make a living, cannot make Dilek, another girl who works at the same store, realize his feelings for her. When Dilek and Aydın meet, Aydın diverts his uncontrollable feelings toward Dilek.

Release

General Release

The film opened on general release in ten screens across Turkey on at number twenty-seven in the Turkish box office chart with an opening weekend gross of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

4,728.

Festival Screenings

* 46th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (October 10–17, 2009) * 29th International Istanbul Film Festival (April 3–18, 2010)

Reception

Box Office

The film was in the Turkish box office charts for four weeks and has made a total gross of

16,329.

Reviews

Emine Yıdırım, writing in

Today's Zaman ''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey. Established on 17 January 2007, it was the English-language edition of the Turkish daily '' Zaman.'' ''Today's Zaman'' included dom ...

, describes the film as, ''an ensemble cast piece of intertwined stories of the

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

School.'' The same publication has also described the film as ''absurd poetic tale of five seemingly unrelated people's lives intertwining in a most interesting way.''

Awards

* 46th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival Best Screenplay Award: Onur Ünlü (won) * 29th International Istanbul Film Festival Best Actor Award: Tansu Biçer (won)

External links

References

{{GoldenOrangeAwardBestScreenplay 2010 films 2010s Turkish-language films 2010 drama films Films set in Istanbul Films set in Turkey Turkish drama films