‘One of Those Days When Hemme Dies’ delights moviegoers at Boston Turkish Film Festival
Murat Fıratoğlu’s debut captures the frustration and beauty of rural labor
Courtesy of Luxbox Films
★★★★
One of Those Days When Hemme Dies
Directed by Murat Fıratoğlu
Screenplay by Murat Fıratoğlu’
Starring Salih Taşçı
Rated PG-13
On Thursday, Oct. 30, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) and the Turkish American Cultural Society of New England opened the Boston Turkish Arts and Culture Festival’s 20th Annual Documentary and Short Film Competition with One of Those Days When Hemme Dies. Directed by Murat Fıratoğlu, the film won the Orizzonti Special Jury Prize at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, was Türkiye’s official Academy Award submission, and received several awards from the Turkish Film Critics Association.
The film centers on Eyüp (aptly named after the biblical Job), a worker on a tomato-harvesting farm who plans to kill his boss, Hemme, after weeks of withheld pay. Due to his debt, Eyüp struggles to find work, forced to leave the city of İzmir to return to his hometown with his wife and children. Hemme insists that he cannot pay Eyüp as he also has not received his wages. This back-and-forth snowballs into a fight that causes Eyüp to leave work to plan Hemme’s murder. At each step, however, obstacles such as Eyüp’s malfunctioning motorcycle and townsfolk making small talk prevent Eyüp from killing Hemme.
What stands out the most about this movie is its slow pace, which both heightens and diminishes the frustration for the audience at various points. Eyüp’s plan is frequently thwarted through similar enough ways that make him and the viewer indignant, and the drawn-out, lengthy shots of walking that intersperse these obstacles can set one’s teeth on edge. However, the humor and warmth of these distractions — such as a classmate from primary school and an old man who needs help transporting his watermelon — and the time elapsed since the initial conflict allow the audience’s emotions to settle down. It’s a quiet movie, with Eyüp not speaking much unless spoken to. Instead, he expresses anger through the physical frustrations he faces and the red color that saturates the film — for example, large expanses of tomato-filled grounds. Stretched out shots of never-ending landscapes provide colorful scenes that ache with silence.
The characters speak and move slowly as well; sometimes, this is because of their age, but this slowness also comes from a feeling of abject hopelessness. The behavior of the other characters regarding their own circumstances provides a sense that Eyüp’s rage should be dampened due to the futility of trying to fight against injustices to improve his own life. Many characters in the movie appear to be victims of larger forces of labor exploitation as well, perhaps even Eyüp’s boss, Hemme — it seems that there is nothing they can do about this predicament either, and thus, all of the other characters are forced into a sort of mildness of mien.
By borrowing a biblical name for his protagonist, Fıratoğlu suggests that the forces of modern capitalism are indistinguishable from those of God, and that the only way to persist through these trials and tribulations is through patience and the abandonment of rage for connection with others and the pleasure of forgiveness. Although Eyüp’s trials do not precisely mirror those of Job’s, his hopelessness and frustration are quite similar.
Overall, the film captures much of the small towns’ scenic beauty and the relationships and interactions between these places. Beneath the unrest and tension, there’s a warmth and resonance that charms viewers who may have lived in and understand the intricacies of these quaint places. Although dialogue was sparse, it almost always carried a sense of familiarity that comes from a shared collective. For example, the loneliness and disability of old age becomes inconsequential to a man who shares his watermelon with Eyüp for helping him.
At times, the acting and dialogue can seem simple and contrived, and the symbolism of the nigh omnipresent red may feel heavy-handed. Despite this, the movie captures many of the small beauties of life in the face of the larger forces we don’t always have control over.
The theater, which had been out of use by the MFA for a few years, was packed. The audience shared many laughs throughout the film and engaged in lively discussion on their way out. Without a doubt, One of Those Days When Hemme Dies is a strong introduction to Fıratoğlu’s work and the Boston Turkish Festival’s 20th Annual Documentary and Short Film Competition.