Imagine ROMEO AND JULIET transposed to a Turkish lower middle class setting and you have the basic scenario for DILA HANIM, a three-box- of-Kleenex melodrama involving the doomed love-affair between the eponymous central character (Türkan Şoray) and Karadağlı Rıza (Kadir Inanır). They come from rival families involved in a perpetual feud, and the course of true love, as they say, never runs smooth. Dıla has the chance to kill Rıza towards the end of the film but her love for him is too deep. The two meet at the end, swearing their eternal loyalty to one another.
Stylistically speaking, DILA HANIM is a prime example of Yeşilçam melodrama at its best. Comprised largely of a series of shot/reverse shots on the characters' faces, interspersed with establishing shots and the occasional zoom to emphasize the drama of the material, Orhan Aksoy's film concentrates predominantly on the emotions. Little attempt is made to contextualize the action; it could take place in any Turkish semi-rural setting. What matters more is what the protagonists feel, and how their feelings impact on the communities they inhabit. To western viewers the style might seem simplistic and lacking in finesse; but Aksoy's film keeps our attention firmly focused on the central performances. Şoray and Inanır, long-time stars of Yeşilçam, do not disappoint.
