Three Friends

The background music for this film are all American pop instrumental hits of the 1950's. As the opening credits roll, "Ruby" is heard, as recorded by (I think) Les Baxter, with the haunting harmonica solo. I wondered how the picture would play out given this peculiar start.

Turns out it was not a special picture, just a nice story about some nice poor people in contemporary Istanbul. Briefly, three men live in an abandoned building and try to eke out a living by pooling their meagre resources. They come upon a lonely blind girl one night, befriend her, and take her in as their guest, pretending they are rich. They learn that 800 lira will cure her blindness. One of the three decides to get the money by any means necessary, because he has fallen in love with her.

"Three Friends" is a sweet story but has the feel of a children's movie, and plot holes and non-sequiturs abound. Children would not ask questions, but grown-ups will be perplexed. They will also notice the startlingly amateurish acting jobs contained in the film, with the exception of Fikret Hakan, who I learned was something of a Turkish matinée idol back in the day. They may also notice the poor directing and the uneven photography. All of this made my rating a mediocre 5, but, after all, it should be classified as a kid's picture - it is a winning, heartwarming movie and they won't notice the flaws.