THE MARKET, A TALE OF TRADE
(Turkey, 2008, d. Ben Hopkins)
Though written and directed by British Ben Hopkins, this is a Turkish film. It has won some top awards at Turkish festivals and national awards. However, while it has a strong flavour of Eastern Turkey and Azerbaijan, it has universal interest and appeal.
Hopkins directed the rather striking 19th century fable, Simon Magus. His output in the years following is not extensive and includes some low budget dramas and some documentaries. The idea for this film came from a visit to Moldava in the 1990s and an examination of how people survived with trade and the black market after the fall of Communism. However, there is no major film industry in Moldava. Hopkins visited Turkey and made a documentary in the Eastern region of the country. With the backing of Turkey's film industry and international help, he set his story in this Eastern part of Turkey, Kurdistan.
The film is brief but, with the location photography graphically showing the mountainous landscapes, the deserts and the villages, the audience will feel that it has visited this part of the world.
Mirham is a small-time fixer. Anything you want, he can find it and offer you a bargain. He is an independent, which irks the local black market mini -czar. He is married to a loving wife who sees the good man underneath the surface. He loves his little daughter and his wife is pregnant. Despite being a devout man who prays and visits his mosque, he drinks and gambles at cards.
When he undertakes a mission to buy children's medicine in Azerbaijan because the lorry carrying pharmaceuticals to the village has been hijacked, he takes it as a sign that he should become respectable and set up a shop for selling the coming mobile phones (this is 1994). The journey does not turn out as hoped for – but we see Mirhan in action, smuggling chemicals under his car, letting the border guard have a cigarette mini-bribe. He also engages the help of his old uncle.
The thing with Mirhan is that he has charisma, he is a charmer you can't help but like and hopes that he makes good. And his uncle is a great gentleman of the old school. Together, they keep us watching and hoping.
In the background, of course, are the pressures of capitalism (and some TV footage of how the mineral they are smuggling in Turker comes from exploited workers in Africa), the globalism of companies like those for mobile phones. And, there is the ever-present local corruption. Interesting, entertaining and thoughtful.
