A True Gentleman

Actor #ÇagatayUlusoy's performance in the movie #TamBirCentilmen ( #ATrueGentleman) is like a kaleidoscope, where the versatility of presenting the role of Saygin to the viewers is magical. The actor, like a chameleon, defines through the art of interpretation all those feelings of bitterness, meant to shape the portrait of the character being interpreted. The soul experiences of sadness, uncertainty, bliss, nostalgia, joy, regret, etc., are all gathered in this film and can be found in the words: "Hope", "Past", "Present" and "Future".

Saygin lives literally, every action of the film, which he writes masterfully, as if it were the last moment of his life, without stops, without fear, with ardor... Saygin puts his soul in the hands of viewers, managing to reveal himself, reactivate, reinvent himself, when he deems it necessary. All this inner strength, comes only from the love for acting, of the talented Çagatay Ulusoy, regardless of the tendentious comments of others. I think this actor had fantastic courage to approach the theme of a gigolo, in a world where fakeness is at its highest. But there is a message of reinvention, a message that must be understood properly, because I believe that each of us has the right to a second chance in life to start all over again.

There are women who seek comfort in the arms of another man to take revenge, out of jealousy, because their husband cheated on them, hoping that he will turn his eyes on them. All these women are vulnerable, feel abandoned and no longer find in their subconscious, that self-respect. There are other women who do it for pleasure, out of the desire to experiment, to feel important in a man's life. None of them, I wouldn't put a label on them, because women who end up feeling such desires are vulnerable and underappreciated. This also applies to men who agree to satisfy their desires and pleasures. Basically Saygin is the man who licks their wounds, healing their suffering hearts. And for Saygin it's just as hard, especially since he mimes happiness in a banal and superficial world, where everything is bought with money and expensive gifts, including a few hours of love.

We live in a world where the lie is thrown under the rug, the false portrayal of an ordinary, flawless, perfect man being established. There is a blatant hypocrisy addressed especially by people who do not own their failures and do not objectively measure their own lives. They are usually the most vehement, they are the ones who believe that they hold the absolute truth and try to manipulate other people's minds as well. I think every man should see this film through his own inner experiences.

I would remember the famous expression: "Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye and do not notice the beam in your own eye?" and... God, how much truth it contains!

That's how the first criticisms of this film were, some of them coming from people who certainly haven't seen it. There were criticisms made only on account of the trailers and some people did not even have the curiosity to follow the thread of the narrative. On the other hand, some viewers who saw the film, did not try to discover the substratum of the deep message, coming from a man who had chosen this profession of need, he remained at a young age without a mother and without education, together with his friend childhood sweetheart, Kado, played by Haki Biçici. Saygin had only 7 grades, but he was well-mannered, cultured and had a special admiration for suffering women.

Kado initiated him into the job of a gigolo, introducing him to this merry-go-round of contrasting feelings, and he is the only friend who will remain faithful to him until the end, even if they sometimes quarreled.

Saygin is aware that for the women he takes in his arms, he is nothing more than a mere toy and can always be forgotten, discarded, replaced. However, he finds justifications for every slap he receives from them, just to continue on this path. In fact, he is fooling himself and his eyes don't lie in the scenes where the blank stare is shown in the mirror. His rebellion only begins when he meets his first love, Nehir.

Every phone call received from Serap reminds Saygin who he really is, in front of the innocent Nehir, played by the actress Ebru Sahin. His smiles fade, his face distorts, his eyes grow weary with the appearance of sadness, and his gaze is lost between the present and the tormenting memories of the past.

The actress Senay Gürler, in the role of Serap, also gives a passionate interpretation. I liked it a lot.

The past haunts him, and because of that past, Saygin has things he hates. In the end, we will notice that with his rebirth, all those things he hated (cigarettes, Farfalle pasta, etc.) will be part of the present.

As a child, Saygin had to do the household chores, starting with food and everything else that was necessary, while his mother was immobilized in bed. Practically, all the pains of the world had accumulated on this boy's shoulders during his childhood.

In the film he appears as a man who has financial power but is not happy and has never been in love. He rarely smiles, forced.

Saygin's eyes reflect all the painful inner experiences, which he perceives as terrible battles with his own self, and he speaks through them, silently shouting his soul pain.

The mirror embodies introspection and self-awareness, giving Saygin the identity of all the reflections and existential turmoil, of the feelings he thought were lost in the whirlwind of years that have passed from his tormented childhood to the present.

The look in the mirror when he makes love to the women who ask for his help is of a man who feels slighted, even if he pretends otherwise... His eyes don't lie. And neither is the body unleashed. Next to Nehir, the woman he falls in love with trembles, smiles and is happy.

The concept of "ritual" is present in the way he smooths his sheet with the iron, identical to when he was a child. They are rituals that he kept over the years, due to the fact that his mother, being immobilized, had a pressure sore on her back. The power of steam destroys microbes, preventing skin infection in damaged areas.

Saygin suffers terribly only when he will know true love. It's a pain he's never experienced before, a pain he can't share with anyone, not even his best friend.

All that remains of the past are a few pictures of his mother, the blanket and the presence of his friend Kado, associated with his hatred for cigarettes (his mother smoked and the house caught fire) and the Farfalle pasta he used to make as a child. There is also a sofa similar to the one from his childhood, on which he used to sleep, precisely so as not to detach himself from the past. Saygin will not find his way and be reborn until Nehir discovers the truth about his occupation.

In moments of emotional distress, he hides under the blanket of childhood, trying to cling to memories, ignoring the present. The association between the jacuzzi and the old blanket leads us to think that luxury does not matter to an unhappy man. Even though he has many rooms where he can sleep comfortably, he rests his body on the couch and sometimes in the jacuzzi, uncomfortable, tormented. He punishes himself so he doesn't feel guilty.

In a different order of ideas, at the end of the film we find Saygin's fine calls for awareness and rebirth, for awakening the body and the mind. He destroys the car given to him by Serap and turns to a new job. Rebirth reappears from within Saygin's heart, as he realizes that the freedom to take his own life into his hands does not give anyone the right to do harm, to hurt someone's feelings, as long as love comes first .

Kado's death and separation from Nehir were the straw that filled the cup of his bitterness.

The mud on his hands has many meanings. Mud is usually associated with dirt, difficulty and stagnation, but it can also suggest fertility, rebirth and transformation, the dark depths of the subconscious, negative emotions such as sadness, frustration or depression.

Nothing was accidentally directed in this movie, not even the songs performed by Cagatay and Ebru are accidental, because the lyrics of the songs reflect the human condition, of the lonely, abandoned man who is not aware of which path to choose.

The chemistry between #cagatayulusoy and #ebrusahin is fantastic, I really liked the two actors.

The end of the film brings back into Saygin's life the hope of resuming his great love.

Nehir, although he has suffered a lot from Saygin's unstable behavior, opens a door for him. It is the door to forgiveness and a new beginning.