From Pink Comedy to Black Humor: Allegories of Neoliberal Political-Economic Transformation in Turkey Through the Cinema of Ertem Eğilmez

Authors : Betül Sarı Aksakal

Pages : 124-164

Doi:10.32001/sinecine.1681359

View : 386 | Download : 1146

Publication Date : 2025-11-12

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The problem of the study is determined within the framework of tracing how the cinema of Ertem Eğilmez, one of the directors of Turkish cinema with a unique cinematic language, evolved in the context of the neoliberal transformation of the Turkish economy and the social atmosphere that this transformation paved the way for. In this axis, Eğilmez\\\'s film narratives corresponding to the neoliberal transformation process and before were deciphered using the thematic content analysis method. In the 1970s, when Eğilmez created the Arzu Film School, it was observed that he focused on the production of pink comedy films that saw the world in a rosy light and used laughter elements in abundance. In addition to the economic and political changes brought about by neoliberal policies in the 1980s, the social transformation caused by these policies was reflected in Eğilmez\\\'s cinema. It was concluded that Eğilmez\\\'s cinema transitioned from pink comedy to black comedy both thematically and in terms of the characters constructed in the films. It has been concluded that the movies produced by Eğilmez serve as memory texts for the period in which they were made and act as record-keepers for the economic, political, and social developments and changes related to the period to which they belong.
Keywords : Ertem Eğilmez, Arzu Film Okulu, Pembe Komedi, Neoliberalizm, Kara Komedi.

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