A STORY OF MORAL DECAY, ARTISTIC IDEALS AND THE FRAGILE FABRIC OF 1970s TÜRKİYE
‘Parçalı Yıllar’, screened at the 36th Ankara Film Festival, revisits one of the most turbulent eras of Turkish cinema. Set between 1975 and 1980, a period marked by political polarization, economic hardship and a profound cultural rupture, the film follows Aytekin, a theatre actor torn between artistic ambition, family responsibilities and a society shifting under his feet. The premiere brought together director Hasan Tolga Pulat and actors Yetkin Dikinciler, Mine Çayıroğlu, Bilge Şen, Levent Özdilek and İlkin Tüfekçi for a screening and an engaging discussion with the audience.
M. FERHAT YÜKSEL
YEARS OF MORAL COLLAPSE
The film focuses on a moment when Yeşilçam’s golden age gave way to the dominance of erotic cinema, a shift that mirrored a broader social unraveling. Lead actor Yetkin Dikinciler describes the character he plays as a man trying to uphold dignity amid the noise of a fractured society.
“Aytekin Aktaş is a theatre actor with ideals,” he said. “But these were years when everything felt hollow, when moral decay crept into daily life. Promoters shouting on the streets, calling people into cinemas… people’s inner voices were just as unsettled. Aytekin tries to live properly, care for his sick wife, look after his son involved in political tensions, and still build himself.”
WHAT WE MUST BREAK APART IS OUR PREJUDICE
Dikinciler describes the years portrayed in the film as a time when lives were literally and symbolically split apart.
“We don’t promise a colorful world,” he said. “For me, those were my black-and-white years. Lives were fragmented. People were scattered politically. They tore themselves apart for ideology, then turned on each other. But at its core, the film reminds us that the only thing we must truly break apart is our prejudices. For those who lived through that era, it will feel nostalgic; for others, these historical stories illuminate the present. History is never just history, it always returns.”
TELLING A DIFFICULT ERA THROUGH HUMOR
Veteran actress Bilge Şen emphasizes that the film approaches a painful chapter in Turkish cinema through a humorous lens.
“Tiyatrocuların yavaş yavaş sinemacılar gibi ödül de sahibi olması benim tabii çok hoşuma gidiyor,” she said. “It shows that we also exist, not only in theatre but also in cinema, expressing ourselves fully.”
Reflecting on the era, she noted:
“Yeşilçam withdrew, and a new wave emerged: the erotic period. We show both the bitter and the comedic sides, how people sometimes had to transform themselves completely just to keep working.”
“I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THE GAP BETWEEN LABOR AND INCOME”
Şen also addressed the reactions to her widely discussed remarks at the Antalya Film Festival, stressing that her comments were misunderstood.
“Most people who know me understood what I meant,” she said. “But some tried to portray me as destitute and even attempted to launch a campaign. That’s wrong. I do have a home, even if it’s 100 square meters. I wanted to highlight the enormous gap between people’s labor and what they earn. If poverty and hunger thresholds are clearly announced, and we earn below that, we feel poor or hungry. My salary is below the declared poverty threshold of 88–90 thousand, so I said it. It was misunderstood, but there’s no need for any campaign. I don’t pay rent; I have a small home.”
A WOMAN’S QUIET RESILIENCE
Mine Çayıroğlu, who plays Asuman, Aytekin’s wife, says the film also captures the emotional architecture of a family navigating societal decay.
“Asuman is the silent face of sacrifice, family unity and balance,” she explained. “Even amid social erosion, she never loses faith in her family or her husband. She supports them until the very end.”
