On September 12, 1980, a military coup d'état, the third in the history of the modern Turkish republic (the first two being in 1960 and 1971), resulted in chaos and turmoil for the democracy of Turkey. Over one and half million people were blacklisted, among those, figures in the arts community. As with any authoritarian takeover, past cinematic works presenting points of view now considered radical, were eradicated. One of those was The Law of the Border, directed by Lütfi Akad, whose story of tensions between smugglers and the military, and the desire to bring opportunity and education to a poor, working-class region, threatened the current military leadership (odd, considering how positive the military's central figure in the film is portrayed). The film's negatives and all prints were destroyed. One copy, a positive print, survived and, years later, was laboriously restored. Today, this copy, which even after restoration is scratched, torn, and damaged beyond hope of ever being in truly good condition, is the only version known to exist.
The story of The Law of the Border is a powerful one, beginning with two men discussing the same thing all the men in the village discuss, smuggling. One of them wants to get his sheep across the border where he can make good money from them and is willing to pay Hidir (Yılmaz Güney) to do it. Hidir is one of the few people that seems smart enough and talented enough to get over the border and elude the police. He needs the flock smuggled soon but is advised to wait as the military is sending a new lieutenant that very day to take over for the last one who was shot. The new lieutenant, Zeki (Atilla Ergün), is a modern man with an eye towards the future, not just for himself but all of Turkey. When he befriends a school teacher, Miss Ayse (Pervin Par), he is brought around to the importance of education in the community and pushes for a school to be built. Knowing the smugglers will be against him, not wanting to spend time and money on a school when they all believe their children will simply become smugglers like themselves, Zeki appeals to Hidir, not only the defacto leader of the smugglers, but a man with a young son whose life might be different with an education.
The star of The Law of the Border, Yılmaz Güney, had a troubled life and career and became as famous for his personal life as for his film work. In the sixties, he became Turkey's most successful actor and by the late sixties, began directing and writing his own works. Unfortunately, his freedom was never guaranteed. He spent time in prison in the early sixties and again in the early seventies for political reasons, including communist leanings and abetting anarchists, and criminal reasons when, in 1974, after being released on amnesty, he shot a judge dead in a night club. He escaped in 1981 and lived in exile in France where, in 1982, he won he Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Yol, one of his last movies. In 1984, at the young age of 47, he died of cancer.
The Law of the Border tells a simple but meaningful story on film and another powerful story behind the scenes. On film, it tells about the importance of education and cultural enrichment as a means of leaving behind a life of struggle and poverty. And behind the scenes, it tells the story of how any movie, any cultural document, can be lost at any time and it's up to all of us to cherish what we have and never take the existence of any work of cinema for granted.
Producer: Kadir Kesemen Director: Lütfi Akad Writers: Lütfi Akad, Yilmaz Güney Music: Nida Tüfekçi Cinematography: Ali Ugur Cast: Yilmaz Güney (Hidir), Pervin Par (Ögretmen Ayse), Erol Tas (Ali Cello), Tuncer Necmioglu (Aziz), Muharrem Gürses (Duran Aga), Aydemir Akbas (Abuzer), Sirri Elitas (Ismail), Tuncel Kurtiz (Bekir), Atilla Ergün (Üstegmen Zeki)
By Greg Ferrara
