Year: 1997
Country:
Turkey
Run Time:
100 minutes
Officially it goes by Tayyare, but denizens call it Cholera Street, a crazy, smoke-filled, virtually lawless zone in a corner of Istanbul, where neighborhood strongmen keep the peace and a good knife-fighter is worth more than an entire police force. Here the harlots openly parade their charms, sneak thieves nab carpets by throwing cats, and a prciesly aimed razor blade can bring a fish dinner down from heaven. And it's in Cholera Street that Salih, the barber's son (who yearns to be anywhere but here), must make a stand against both a Jack-the-Ripper Style slasher stalking the night and an invading Boss and his posse of punks. And Salih must struggle alone since any group-citizens' movement is automatically condemned as "communism." A sensation in its native land, CHOLERA STREET is like a Turkish Tarentino and then some. It's part urban folklore, part gritty gangster melodrama, and part pure opium-den dream, mixing raw shocks with alyricism reminiscent of John Woo at his giddiest, and a Rabelaisian gallery of grotesque characters spouting some of the most wildly unlikely dialogue ever subtitled.
Screenplay
Mustafa Altioklar (based on the novel by Metin Ka?an)
Director
Mustafa Altioklar
Producer
Mehmet Ergin Soyarslan, Sabahattin Cetin
Cinematography
Ertunc Senkay
Editing
Mustafa Altioklar
Principal Cast
M?jde Ar, Okan Bay?lgen, Mustafa Ugurlu, Burak Sergen, Zafar Algoz, Savas Din?el
Beige Film
Ayhan Isik Sok 28 /2 Beyoglou
80083 Istanbul
TURKEY
tel: (90-212) 252 2525
fax: (90-212) 251 3637
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