Ask Tesadüfleri Sever2/Love Likes Coincidences 2 (Feature by Ömer Faruk Sorak, ?pek Sorak, and Alp Tekin)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Ask Tesadüfleri Sever2/Love Likes Coincidences 2 Cigdem Slankard (bio) Ask Tesadüfleri Sever2/Love Likes Coincidences 2 Feature, Starring Nesrin Cavadzade, Yiğit Kirazcı, Elif Doğan, and Uğur Polat, 2020, 121 Minutes, Directed by Ömer Faruk Sorak and İpek Sorak, Produced by Ömer Faruk Sorak and Alp Tekin Love Likes Coincidences 2 is a popular Turkish feature from husband-and-wife co-directors Ömer Faruk Sorak and İpek Sorak, which tells an implausibly intertwined tale of two love stories. One takes place in Istanbul in 1963 with the backdrop of Istanbul’s Greek Community’s mistreatment by the Turkish government, while the second story is set in contemporary Ankara. Although the title hints at a sequel, Love Likes Coincidences 2 contains a narrative independent of the first film, namely, Love Likes Coincidences 1. Yet, the fact remains that both films explore similar themes like love and coincidence. Love Likes Coincidences 2 is inspired by a true story, originally written by İpek Sorak and adapted to screenplay by Nuran Evren Şit. We first meet the main characters from the 1960s love story, Sema (starring Elif Doğan), a high school student, and Niko (starring Uğur Polat) who is training at a mechanic’s shop and is slightly older than Sema. They run into each other one day when Sema is late for school. Her dad, a local police officer (starring Erkan Can), usually drives her to school. Distracted by Sema’s tardiness, he calls her to hurry up only to find himself rear-ending a motorcycle. This scene constitutes the first coincidence of the first love story: Meet cute 1: Sema meets Niko as he opens his eyes after a gentle tumble off his vehicle. Upon eye contact with the beautiful Sema, he utters the words “Am I dead?” a line which ends up bookending their love story throughout the film. The Niko-Sema love story is contextualized in the social and family structure of 1960s Turkey where it was not uncommon for a high school girl to start considering her options for marriage at a young age. While casual dating and any aspect of premarital sex would have been taboo, this type of romance was encouraged in some families with the hope of young people entering into a marriage grounded in both logic and love. This idea is repeatedly expressed throughout the film’s narrative as the relationship between Sema and Niko unfolds, featuring their families’ reception of their love story. The film then flash-forwards to 2011-Ankara, where the audience meets Kerem (starring Yiğit Kirazcı), an attractive and charismatic young man with his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend, Aylin (starring Türkü Turan), at a night club where the beautiful and talented Defne (staring Nesrin Cavadzade) takes the stage to perform a song, “I had a Dream Last Night.” Her voice captures Kerem’s attention. Kerem is [End Page 126] captivated by Defne and can’t keep his eyes off her despite his girlfriend’s attempts to distract him from the stage. Kerem and Defne make eye contact right before Aylin drags Kerem off: Meet Cute 2, which is followed by a montage of letter-writing from the 1960s and texting from the new millennium as couples-to-be connected on the eve of their budding romances. Indeed, all four main characters do pair up, Sema with Niko and Defne with Kerem in no time. How romantic advances are shared may have changed, but the gist of it remains the same. In presenting two intertwined and parallel love stories, the film comments on how romance and relationships have changed over time. The ease of connecting with a new potential partner in contemporary modern societies is contrasted to the slow-moving romantic communication, from decades ago, between two people via handwritten notes messengered by a young boy. The cautious conversations between a young couple of the 1960s is juxtaposed to a contemporary couple hooking up immediately after their first face-to-face encounter. The filmmakers acknowledge and highlight these changes and variations. At some points, however, this happens at the expense of an authentic representation of romance in Turkish culture...