t are intended to bring the barbarity of war closer to viewers than sober facts in history books can. With such painstakingly researched and detailed accounts, the director withdraws somewhat from the whole affair. His refusal for the most part to analyze the larger political context on a global scale shields him from having to pass judgment.
His criticism of the supreme army command remains within the bounds of what we know from every Hollywood war film. And in his empathy with the grunts in the trenches, he too often conjures up the spirit of sacrifice, courage, and camaraderie.
Moreover, you have to fill in some connections and background information yourself. For example, officer Mustafa Kemal, preserver of the fatherland, later became "Atatürk." Without his status as hero he most likely could not have pushed through his radical reforms with such ruthlessness and efficiency.
Also, it is not unimportant that the Young Turks had the peninsula evacuated before the battle, deporting ten thousand Greeks and Armenians, and that they intensified the repressive measures against Armenian Christians after the attacks, and pursued their plans of annihilation.
Asked about these connections, Örnek stated that the time, or rather Turkey, is not yet ripe for such an account. Most likely he is right.
© Qantara.de 2005
Translation from German: Nancy Joyce