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7.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Karim Beni Aldatirsa remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, only watch Karim Beni Aldatirsa if you have a massive soft spot for black-and-white melodrama or if you’re a completionist for Nazim Hikmet’s writing. If you’re looking for a tight, modern pacing, you will probably be pulling your hair out by the thirty-minute mark.
The whole thing feels like a stage play that decided to wander outside to the beach. The love triangles are so layered it gets hard to keep track of who is supposed to be moping over who.
It’s not quite as energetic as Kys, klap og kommers, but it has a weird, quiet charm. I spent half the movie just looking at the architecture of the sports facility instead of the actual dialogue.
There’s a specific kind of frustration that comes with this movie. Characters keep staring into the middle distance while dramatic music swells, but half the time they just look bored. Maybe they were hungry? It’s hard to tell.
Some of the reaction shots are aggressively long. Like, hold-your-breath-until-it-gets-funny long. I kept waiting for someone to blink or crack a smile, but they just stay in that frozen, pained expression forever.
If you like movies that feel a bit like a dusty photo album you found in an attic, this might hit the spot. It’s definitely not Little Caesar in terms of grit, but it has its own weird, polite intensity.
One actor—I think it was Zeki Alpan—just seems to be having the time of his life in the background, even when the scene is supposed to be tragic. It’s the little things like that which kept me watching.
Don't expect a satisfying ending, either. Everything just sort of stops. It’s like the film ran out of ribbon and decided that was enough for today. 🌊