Act of Vengeance, the movie

Act of Vengeance, the Turkish movie made in 2010, not to be confused with the 2017 Acts of Vengeance movie,  is on Netflix. It appears to have been named Five Minarets in New York when first released and renamed Act of Vengeance sometime later.  

I used to so enjoy ‘foreign’ movies at the university and again with Netflix am gratefully enjoying  them. When I was in Instanbul I was shocked at the wealth and substance of the movie industry with so many best seller features produced. A Roumanian friend told me that Turkish films were the favourite of the whole of the Middle East as Istanbul to film was what we in the west think Hollywood is.  I felt my western perspective on film at that moment was exposed as shallow.

Act of Vengeance is all the spit and polish of Hollywood, a remarkable fast paced exciting thriller set in Turkey and New York with sub titles, Turkish and English.  The gun fight scenes are the best of French Connection. Bruce Willis and Jason Stratham could just as well be in these slick shoot em up scenes with missile fire and door to door terrorist police gun fights.

The story though is not at all American.  Something foreign and alien.  Blood feud of the Campbell MacDonald, McCoys and Hatfield level but happening still today. On top of this all jihad and terrorism were layered. 

The backdrop, ancient streets, stone architecture, the mosques of Instanbul, the calls to prayer , the unique musical score, all so engrossing. I loved seeing the Hagia Sophia again and the Sufi dance. The movie captured so many touching scenes of the rare beauty of the old city and contrasted it with the neon light and skyscraper wonder of New York.  A deeply developed movie with so many signs and symbols, not somehing we see so much from Hollywood these days, an almost European literary depth that didn’t detract from the exciting pace of the movie.

The characters were old and rare. The inner wrinkles of life experience had no spiritual Botox to homogenize them. I loved Danny Glover and Robert Patrick’s portrayal. .  Haluk Bilginer, as Hadji, was epic. Gina Gershwin really did move me as she has such a Sophia Loren flare.  Mahsun Kirmizigul was definitely aTurkish Sylvester Stallone. Two Turkish anti terrorism agents go to New York to capture a terrorist but the plot then thickens and twists as intrigue and mystery move with almost Shakespearean development.  

Mahsun Kirmizigul is an outstanding director with immense capacity for the fast and the slow pace and for bringing out the best out in cast. I was completely absorbed throughout.

Certainly I’d recommend this movie to anyone. Having been to New York and Turkey I especially enjoyed this. The insights into Islam and the importance of family and feuds was intriguing.