Synopsis
For decades YOL has moved audiences all over the world. The unfinished version won the most coveted award, the Golden Palm at the 1982 Cannes film festival. One can watch the masterpiece of Turkish-Kurdish film history, complete and restored as “YOL – The Full Version”. This is a must-see for anyone who wants to understand Turks and Kurds – and you will learn a lot about yourself.
To celebrate the 80th birthday of Yılmaz Güney DFK FILMS restored this masterpiece of Turkish-Kurdish film history, supplementing it with film material that was thought to have been lost. 35 years after winning the Golden Palm we brought it back to the Cannes Film Festival and cinemas under the title “YOL – The Full Version”.
“YOL – The Full Version” (2017) honours what the great Turkish-Kurdish actor, author, director and producer Yılmaz Güney could not complete during his lifetime. The restored and completed version brings the content of the script, written by Güney in prison, to the screen.
Yılmaz Güneys’ overpowering film about honour and passion, courage and pain, tenderness and cruelty – terror, anger, strength, love – and life. YOL has lost none of its relevance since the 1980’s.
The people portrayed in the film are Turkish and Kurdish, but such people are to be found wherever there is a struggle against oppression. They are all prisoners, some behind bars, many are prisoners of their own minds, but all are prisoners of the state.
In its depiction of the living conditions of six prisoners on home leave, YOL portrays an outline of the human landscape of Turkey. We experience how the people are oppressed, in particular, the Kurds and women. The patriarchal structure and its attitude to morality make up part of the repression.
The story is predominantly told through the fate of three prisoners, Seyit Ali, Mehmet Salih and Ömer. Three men who are torn from their daily lives. They had hoped that three days would suffice to forget the humiliation of everyday prison life and solve their most pressing issues at home. These shattered dreams make their crippling circumstances seem all the worse. So much for a glorious life of freedom! Ömer breaks out, Mehmet is shot and Seyit Ali remains a prisoner of his indecision. The struggle for a better life must continue and will last a long time…
Finally complete!
The restored and completed “full-version” now respect the script, that Güney wrote in prison, in bringing the full story to cinema screens. Thanks to intensive research, film material that was thought to have been lost was found, digitised, and incorporated into the film in accordance with Yılmaz Güney’s original editing plan. The picture and sound were painstakingly renewed, enhanced and restored to their original condition.