Yunus Emre – the Voice of Love / Aşkın Sesi

CULTURE / FILM 

Subtitled. In select London cinemas from today.

This feature-length film about the life of Yunus Emre, a thirteenth century Turkish poet and Sufi mystic, charts his journey as he seeks the path to divine love.

Set at a time when the Selcuk Turks were fighting the Mongolian invasion and conquest of Anatolia, Emre’s efforts to set down his feelings on love and human destiny using the simple traditional style of Anatolian folk poetry appealed to the ordinary folk of his time. This echo of love from the 13th century continues to resonate widely even today, with Emre’s life and work popular not only in Turkey, but across the Balkans and through to Central Asia. 

Emre’s epic biopic is written and directed by Kürşat Kızbaz, whose previous film works include Çanakkale Destani 1915 and a documentary on Mevlana Rumi, another of Anatolia’s major religious mystics. He casts Devrim Evin as Yunus Emre, Evin having starred as Fatih Sultan Mehmet in the 2012 box office hit Conquest 1453 about how the Turks took Constantinople.

While the grand cinematic spectacle of the film and its dramatic historical setting makes this appealing on the eye, the essence of Emre’s simple life and spiritual journey are somewhat lost. Perhaps in the hands of a more experienced film director, there would be less noise and more time to bond with Emre’s search for the divine soul and the meaning of life. Nevertheless, the film offers great insights into one of Anatolia’s most significant sons and other key religious figures of the time, including Hacı Bektaş and Mevlana Rumi

See trailer here: Yunus Emre - The Voice of Love

Showing at Cineworld Wood Green and Odeon Lee Valley from Friday 17 January 2014.

Running time: 101 mins

Rated: 12A

www.cinemasteruk.com