I was browsing the reviews of "Nefes", and since there was only a handful of reviews by non-Turkish IMDb users - since it hasn't been screened much outside Turkey - I felt that I had to give my effort to it. Having said that, I feel that it's been badly misunderstood by many people. Many reviewers judged it as "propaganda" or "morally corrupted" etc. I couldn't disagree more.
To me it wasn't even political, even less morally corrupted - disturbing and even revolting - yes. Corrupted - not even remotely. I might even call it pacifistic. The story is a deep and humane view in to the persona of a soldier. I don't say Turkish soldier, because the moral issues of it are so universal - basically the story could be placed in any war throughout the modern history.
**Minor spoiler* Most of the critic on IMDb were about the parts were the Turkish special forces (the main characters) were shown doing unjustified violence to their unarmed prisoner. That's the "morally corrupted propaganda" part I guess. The way I see it, it's as anti-propaganda as it gets. It puts the main characters to same line as their enemies. It doesn't try to glorify or justify either sides part on the situation. How's that propaganda? **
In a nutshell: Nefes is a visually sublime look in to the social and emotional aspects that drive young men to sacrifice their lives and futures for something as dreadful as war. It's about the brutal effects of violence to ones psyche. And mainly - It's about the endless amounts of everyday tragedies that drive so many of these emotionally fragile young men to see the war as their only option in life.
To me it wasn't even political, even less morally corrupted - disturbing and even revolting - yes. Corrupted - not even remotely. I might even call it pacifistic. The story is a deep and humane view in to the persona of a soldier. I don't say Turkish soldier, because the moral issues of it are so universal - basically the story could be placed in any war throughout the modern history.
**Minor spoiler* Most of the critic on IMDb were about the parts were the Turkish special forces (the main characters) were shown doing unjustified violence to their unarmed prisoner. That's the "morally corrupted propaganda" part I guess. The way I see it, it's as anti-propaganda as it gets. It puts the main characters to same line as their enemies. It doesn't try to glorify or justify either sides part on the situation. How's that propaganda? **
In a nutshell: Nefes is a visually sublime look in to the social and emotional aspects that drive young men to sacrifice their lives and futures for something as dreadful as war. It's about the brutal effects of violence to ones psyche. And mainly - It's about the endless amounts of everyday tragedies that drive so many of these emotionally fragile young men to see the war as their only option in life.