''Run for Money'' () is a 1999

Turkish film 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 ...

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

Reha Erdem Reha Erdem (born 1960 in Istanbul) is a Turkish film director and screenwriter. Biography He attended Galatasaray High School and studied history at Boğaziçi University before leaving to study film in 1983. He participated in two Ateliers V ...

. It was Turkey's submission to the

73rd Academy Awards The 73rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best of 2000 in film and took place on March 25, 2001, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Pacif ...

for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Premise

Selim, a down-on-his-luck owner of a clothing store in

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 ...

, boards a taxi one evening that contains a suitcase left behind by a previous passenger. The briefcase contains stacks of American $100 bills. Selim attempts to locate the owner of the briefcase, but the owner cannot be found. However, Selim learns the owner was a bank clerk who stole the money (totaling $450,000) from his place of employment. In the meantime, Selim stores the money in his shop. One day his store's cash register is robbed (and not the suitcase money). Selim gives in to temptation and starts to spend the money, at first only buying necessities but then gradually indulging in lavish purchases. This leads him down a dangerous path as he searches for the robber and tries to evade the owner of the suitcase.

Cast

* Taner Birsel as Selim * Bennu Yıldırımlar as Ayla * Zuhal Gencer as Nihal * Engin Alkan as Ahmet * Sermet Yesil as Çirak

Reception

Critical response

Phil Hall of ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...

'' reviewed the film positively, writing that it "is a harrowing dissection of the nastier aspects of the human spirit. Filmmaker Erdem keeps the action flowing in swift, staccato rhythms that never veer into the predictable, and he wisely throws in inexplicable behavior which mirrors his protagonist’s increasingly warped inner emotions". He also commended Birsel's performance, saying the character f Selimis both an everyman and a fool, an object of pity and derision…a real person, perhaps too real for comfort at times, and Birsel's performance covers amazing ground."

References

External links