Trauma cinema : a critical view on Beynelmilel and Babam ve Oğlum

Abstract

Cinema, one of the most popular instruments of mass media, is also a product of the society and it cannot be thought to be independent from the social history. Beynelmilel (Sırrı Süreyya Önder, 2006) and Babam ve Oğlum (Çağan Irmak, 2005), being popular Turkish films can be put and analyzed under the category of 12 September films and trauma films. The characters in both films bear the features of traumatic personalities produced by the 12 September 1980 military coup and its aftermath in Turkish society. The two films create a cinematic field to discuss the 12 September trauma and its impacts. Beynelmilel and Babam ve Oğlum should therefore be paid attention and analyzed, as popular products of the society.