Post by cenk on Feb 19, 2006 8:46:57 GMT -5
US wears black hat in Turkish hit "Wolves"
By Charles Masters
BERLIN (Hollywood Reporter) - Turkey's "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq," an action drama that depicts U.S. troops in Iraq committing multiple atrocities, is setting new box-office records in its homeland.
The movie has sold more than 3 million tickets since its February 3 release, according to Turkish tracking agency Kenda. The current record-holder for ticket sales in Turkey is "G.O.R.A.," which drew 4 million admissions in 2004. "'Valley of the Wolves' will maybe reach 5 million," a Kenda representative said.
The film also has sold about 228,000 tickets on its opening week in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, where it is being released by specialist distributor Maxximum Films. "It is our best result yet," said Maxximum head Anil Sahin. The film is due to roll out in several other territories, including the U.K., in the coming weeks.
The movie taps into the unpopularity of the U.S. invasion of Iraq to cast U.S. soldiers as the bad guys being systematically eliminated by an avenging Turkish undercover agent and his buddies. Budgeted at $10 million, it is the most expensive Turkish movie ever made.
Billy Zane stars as the evangelistic local U.S. commander, a Col. Kurtz-like figure intent on retaining control of the various Kurdish, Arab and Turkish populations at any price.
BLACK WEDDING
One scene in the film centers on a swoop on a wedding party, during which a soldier shoots a boy dead in front of his mother, the bride gets a rifle butt in the face and the groom is shot in the head. The party is rounded up and put in a lorry. When one soldier queries whether they will have enough air, another takes his machine gun and punches bullet holes along the side of the truck -- a very similar episode to one recounted in Michael Winterbottom's Berlin film festival competition entry, "The Road to Guantanamo," which combines documentary footage and dramatic re-creations.
Those characters left alive in "Wolves" are taken to the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, where their organs are cut out by a doctor (Gary Busey) and sent to recipients in New York, London and Tel Aviv. The movie also re-enacts the infamous Lindy England/naked prisoner incident, with a female U.S. soldier corralling three writhing detainees. In the final showdown, U.S. forces begin their assault on a village by blowing up the mosque's minaret.
"There's nothing exaggerated in there. It wasn't this film company that made these things happen," said Mehmet Canpolat, partner in production company Pana Film. "We put in a lot of things that came out of news reports. This is the stuff you see if you open up a newspaper in Turkey."
Canpolat denies that the film is anti-U.S. or anti-Semitic, saying it merely reflects Turkish opposition to the Iraqi occupation and its well-publicized abuses. "It's the same message as Oliver Stone's 'Platoon,'" he argues.
The film has several moderating influences, notably an Islamic leader who chides a woman for contemplating a suicide bombing and who halts the imminent beheading of an American journalist.
The movie is a spin-off of a hugely successful Turkish TV series, "Valley of the Wolves," which ran for four seasons and drew a market share of as much as 50 percent in Turkey.
[ SOURCE ]
I was wondering if there has been much coverage of this film in the U.S?
By Charles Masters
BERLIN (Hollywood Reporter) - Turkey's "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq," an action drama that depicts U.S. troops in Iraq committing multiple atrocities, is setting new box-office records in its homeland.
The movie has sold more than 3 million tickets since its February 3 release, according to Turkish tracking agency Kenda. The current record-holder for ticket sales in Turkey is "G.O.R.A.," which drew 4 million admissions in 2004. "'Valley of the Wolves' will maybe reach 5 million," a Kenda representative said.
The film also has sold about 228,000 tickets on its opening week in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, where it is being released by specialist distributor Maxximum Films. "It is our best result yet," said Maxximum head Anil Sahin. The film is due to roll out in several other territories, including the U.K., in the coming weeks.
The movie taps into the unpopularity of the U.S. invasion of Iraq to cast U.S. soldiers as the bad guys being systematically eliminated by an avenging Turkish undercover agent and his buddies. Budgeted at $10 million, it is the most expensive Turkish movie ever made.
Billy Zane stars as the evangelistic local U.S. commander, a Col. Kurtz-like figure intent on retaining control of the various Kurdish, Arab and Turkish populations at any price.
BLACK WEDDING
One scene in the film centers on a swoop on a wedding party, during which a soldier shoots a boy dead in front of his mother, the bride gets a rifle butt in the face and the groom is shot in the head. The party is rounded up and put in a lorry. When one soldier queries whether they will have enough air, another takes his machine gun and punches bullet holes along the side of the truck -- a very similar episode to one recounted in Michael Winterbottom's Berlin film festival competition entry, "The Road to Guantanamo," which combines documentary footage and dramatic re-creations.
Those characters left alive in "Wolves" are taken to the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, where their organs are cut out by a doctor (Gary Busey) and sent to recipients in New York, London and Tel Aviv. The movie also re-enacts the infamous Lindy England/naked prisoner incident, with a female U.S. soldier corralling three writhing detainees. In the final showdown, U.S. forces begin their assault on a village by blowing up the mosque's minaret.
"There's nothing exaggerated in there. It wasn't this film company that made these things happen," said Mehmet Canpolat, partner in production company Pana Film. "We put in a lot of things that came out of news reports. This is the stuff you see if you open up a newspaper in Turkey."
Canpolat denies that the film is anti-U.S. or anti-Semitic, saying it merely reflects Turkish opposition to the Iraqi occupation and its well-publicized abuses. "It's the same message as Oliver Stone's 'Platoon,'" he argues.
The film has several moderating influences, notably an Islamic leader who chides a woman for contemplating a suicide bombing and who halts the imminent beheading of an American journalist.
The movie is a spin-off of a hugely successful Turkish TV series, "Valley of the Wolves," which ran for four seasons and drew a market share of as much as 50 percent in Turkey.
[ SOURCE ]
I was wondering if there has been much coverage of this film in the U.S?