''Piano Girl'' () is a 2009 Turkish

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

, directed by

Murat Saraçoğlu Murat may refer to: Places Australia * Murat Bay, a bay in South Australia * Murat Marine Park, a marine protected area France * Murat, Allier, a commune in the department of Allier * Murat, Cantal, a commune in the department of Cantal El ...

, starring

Tarık Akan Tarık Akan (born Tarık Tahsin Üregül; 13 October 1949 – 16 September 2016) was a Turkish film actor and producer, who started his activity in the 1965s. Early life Akan was born as Tarık Tahsin Üregül in Istanbul on 13 October 1949. He ...

and

Şerif Sezer Şerif Sezer (born 12 December 1946) is a Turkish actress. She is also known for her roles in Turkish cult films like ''Everything About Mustafa'' and ''My Father and My Son''. She was born in 1946 in Mudanya and she has Rumelian, Georgians, Geor ...

as two elderly people forced to question their histories and reveal their big secrets. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on , was the opening film at the Sinema Burada Film Festival in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and has since been screened in competition at a number of other film festivals, including the

46th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival The 46th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival () was a film festival held in Antalya, Turkey which ran from 19 to 17 October 2009. This edition of the International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival was the first to be organised ...

, where, according to Terry Richardson, writing for

Today's Zaman ''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey. Established on 17 January 2007, it was the English-language edition of the Turkish daily '' Zaman.'' ''Today's Zaman'' included dom ...

, ''the rapt audience gave it a standing ovation.'' The defunct ''

'' mistakenly stated that both Mishka and Popuch were "Molokan". Mihska was the last Russian and ''Malakan'', and Popuch was Turkish Muslim.

Plot

After the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Russia acquired part of eastern Anatolia, including Kars Oblast. To quickly populate the area with Russians, undesirable heretics,

Spiritual Christians Spiritual Christianity () is the group of belief systems held by so-called folk Protestants (), including non-Eastern Orthodox indigenous faith tribes and new religious movements that emerged in the Russian Empire. Their origins are varied: some ...

from Russia were given incentives (more land, military exemption, no taxes) to resettle in Kars Oblast in eastern Anatolia. These colonists were called ''malakan'' in Turkish, an

umbrella term Hypernymy and hyponymy are the wikt:Wiktionary:Semantic relations, semantic relations between a generic term (''hypernym'') and a more specific term (''hyponym''). The hypernym is also called a ''supertype'', ''umbrella term'', or ''blanket term ...

for any Russian settler in the Caucasus. Among the resettled families is Mişka's. ''Mishka'' is Russian

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

"little Micheal". They operated a water-powered grain mill along a river. Mişka (

Tarik Akan Tariq () is an Arabic word and given name. Etymology The word is derived from the Arabic verb , ('), meaning "to strike", and into the agentive conjugated doer form , ('), meaning "striker". It became popular as a name after Tariq ibn Ziyad, a ...

) grows old, buries his brother, and now operates the only mill in the village. He cannot compete with new electric mills. He tries to sell apples to pay his bills. In the meantime, the cranky old woman of the village, Popuç (Şerif Sezer), hates Mişka and does not want him in the village. She owns the store to which poor Mişka owes money. Dreamy flashbacks reveal that Mişka and Popuç fell in love in their youth and his Christian parents forbid him to marry outside their faith. The young Mişka and Popuç are played by the actual children of the parent actors. Popuç lives with her son Semistan (Levent Tülek), daughter-in-law Figan (Zuhal Topal) and three grandchildren. However, the smallest and most wayward of her granddaughters, Alma, is musically talented and befriends the elder Mişka who teaches her on his old piano, and pays for her education at the Kars music academy. Alma will help two elderly people question their histories and reveal their big secrets. When Mişka dies, Popuç with a change of heart, intervenes because she is the only Muslim who knows how to properly bury a Christian Malakan.

Cast

as Mişka *

as Popuç * Zuhal Topal as Figan *

Levent Tülek Levent is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,911 (2022). It is one of the main business districts of Istanbul located on the European side of the city. It is situated ...

as Şemsitan *

Korel Cezayirli Korel is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Korel Engin (born 1980), American-born Turkish basketball player * Korel Tunador, American singer See also * Korek (surname) * Korey Korey is a given name and surname. Notable peopl ...

as Metin Öğretmen *

Murat Aydın Murat may refer to: Places Australia * Murat Bay, a bay in South Australia * Murat Marine Park, a marine protected area France * Murat, Allier, a commune in the department of Allier * Murat, Cantal, a commune in the department of Cantal Elsew ...

as Fezo *

Ozan Erdoğan Ozan may refer to: Companies * Ozan Lumber Company, a former company based in Arkansas People *, an itinerant poet, poet-singer (similar to "bard", "balladeer", or "troubadour") in Turkic traditions, predating the term ''ashik''. Some performed ...

as Tavşan *

Muhammet Cangören Muhammad () is an Arabic given male name meaning 'praiseworthy'. The name comes from the passive participle of the Arabic verb (حَمَّدَ), meaning 'to praise', which itself comes from the triconsonantal Semitic root Ḥ-M-D. Other spelli ...

as Allahyar *

Levent Uzunbilek Levent is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,911 (2022). It is one of the main business districts of Istanbul located on the European side of the city. It is situated ...

as Mirza * İsrafil Parlak as Adıbeş * Havin Funda Saç as Esme

Release

General release

The film opened in 133 screens across Turkey on at number seven in the Turkish box office chart with an opening weekend gross of $99,761.

Festival screenings

* 2009 ** Sinema Burada Film Festival **

4th Bursa International Silk Road Film Festival Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

* 2010 **

21st Ankara International Film Festival The 21st Ankara International Film Festival was a film festival held in Ankara, Turkey that ran from March 11 to 21, 2010. This edition of the Ankara Film Festival, organized by The World Mass Media Research Foundation and accredited by FIPRESCI ...

Reception

Box office

The film reached number five in the Turkish box office chart and has made a total gross of $614,899.

Reviews

Terry Richardson, writing for

, describes the comic drama as, ''Entertaining if melodramatic.'' Some reviewers noted there was little information about the Malakan people.

References

External links

* * * {{TCMDb title, 774648, Deli deli olma 2009 films 2000s historical comedy-drama films Films set in Turkey 2009 comedy-drama films Turkish historical comedy-drama films 2000s Turkish-language films