Elif the Socialite with her star crossed lover Omer the ‘cop’ from Black Money Love
I believe that Black Money Love, the present day Turkish Netflix series was inspired by the 1944 Academy Award winning American film classic Laura.
In fact my husband and I used to wonder who would make a good cast for a remake of one of our favorite film noir movies. Perhaps Ashley Judd and a younger Harrison Ford? Maybe, but not really.
Laura Redux And then it came to me, like a sudden spark in a quiet moment as I dove off to sleep. There is already a remake so to speak. Actually, it may be with a broad interpretive brush, not a tight translation. But nonetheless, a Turkish series on Netflix, Black Money Love shares enough of a resemblance to fit the inspirational bill.
Dana Andrews, the ‘cop’ interrogating Gene Tierney, the Socialite from Laura.
THE PLOT
Primarily the storyline targets the on-again-off-again love affair between a socialite and a cop. In fact this is one of the major themes where the two productions share their stories and what joins them as original theme and remake.
How The Lovers Meet The second coincidence is that both sets of lovers meet over the death of someone they knew. In fact, the peculiarity of such a meeting ties both stories closely together in their similarities as reflections of each other.
Subplots Then going into the detail of their subplots, there are more similarities. For example, the story pits good against evil, love versus greed, themes that further reflect each other.
THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
In case this all seems to far fetched, one can just compare the characters in each production. I wish to leave this exercise to the reader. Again it is uncanny the number of similarities to draw from this task.
CONCLUSION
We may never know if Laura was in the minds of the creators of Black Money Love when the latter was made. The refrain from overt violence in Laura is exploited in Black Money Love. But that is typical of present day cinema.
However that difference does not separate them. It is merely expletive style. Whether one of these series was based on the brilliance of the other may never be actually documented. Nonetheless, the similarities that clearly exist leave plenty of room for speculation as well as ample entertainment.
Bittersweet love stories best describe much of the romantic love/hate relationships between Turkish actor, Engin Akyurek, and his leading ladies. Although these underlying themes are typical, they are expresses in sophisticated, literary, profound, and confounding ways as any romantically based compelling novel might be.
BITTER
Devastated Elif runs away after Omer stands her up at their wedding. Photo from the Facebook page, Black Money Love Bittersweet Updates
For example, there are Shakespearean themes, class friction, cultural mores, and deeply emotional issues. As a result, Omer gilts his fiance Elif at the altar. Although he loves her deeply, he has decided that it would be better to hurt her once with a lie than for her to have to face him daily reminded that his brother had killed her father.
NOT YET BITTERSWEET
The growing relationship between Omer and Elif is at times very frustrating. It grows from an embryonic seed to full flower, blossoming with painful thorns. There are continual conflicts, misunderstandings, and then bursts of passionate forgiveness. As a result, emotions run cold as ice then hot as fire. This conclusively leads to viewer tension in one’s belly to tingling through one’s entire body. This seems to be the pattern in some of Engin Akyurek bittersweet love stories. Indeed, it is part of what makes them so bittersweet yet so irresistible.
Engin Akyurek as Kerim in Fatmagul from YouTube
BITTERSWEET
The bittersweet is a reprieve from the bitter. Typical of this phase is the tension that builds up between Omer and Elif that leads to the relief of a romantic embrace. In addition, this is the kind of dramatic transition for Fatmagul and Kerin in FATMAGÜL’ÜN SUÇU NE?
BÖLÜM
Omer in a heated discussion with Elif from the Facebook page, Engin Akyurek Appreciation page
SWEET
In spite of those less than sweet times, we suffer through the bitter moments and even the bittersweet moments for those increasing sequences of unabashed visceral ‘oh so sweet’ passion. Using romantic creativity, an ardent Engin fan strung together a precious necklace of passion gems created by Omer and Elif romance in BLACK MONEY LOVE. This video is posted on YouTube courtesy of Sefirin Kizi.
A succession of romantic moments between Omer and Elif without stopping to take a breath. From YouTube.
CONCLUSION
BEYOND BITTERSWEET
Not all of Engin Akyurek’s acting roles have fallen into the bitter to sweet tastes. For example, in Olene Kadar, Engin starts with a promising future as a brilliant young medical student. Through a succession of tragic mishaps, including 11 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, an untrusting lost love, a child born out of wedlock found too late to bond with him, our hero ultimately dies an untimely death.
This is not your typical Engin heroic role. So when someone has the ability to capture the hearts of fans as well as his leading ladies chooses to cast aside his prizewinning charm, to play a dark role instead, he has the mark of a truly gifted and courageous actor. He exhibits extraordinary talent.
Although I prefer to be entertained by bittersweet love stories than one that ends in darkness, it is a privilege to view my favorite Turkish actor display such range and acting ability. From darkness comes new light. One can only wait with bated breath for what is in store for all of us Engin admirers in the future.
Bad-boy movie heroes have been a major attraction for celluloid audiences in the US and abroad for about 100 years. In fact, I was reminded of some of my historical favorites by my latest, Turkish actor Engin Akyurek. I have chosen four other bad-boys for this writing. In addition to my total list of these five are the reasons I have given them the name, bad-boy movie heroes. As a matter of fact, I suspect that this may be the ‘Hollywood’ formula that works as well today in 2020, as it did when it was invented. The bad-boys included here range from films made in 1944 to 2015.
Engin Akyurek from the Facebook Fan Club Group
THE BAD-BOY PERSONALITY FORMULA
A. They don’t follow the rules.
B. They are handsome, sexy, and magnetic.
C. Their behavior tends to range from rage to romance.
D. For the most part, the women they attract are ‘nice-girls’
E. These bad-boy movie heroes almost always get the ‘nice-girl’
F. In spite of their unorthodox procedures, they often become heroes.
THE BAD-BOYS
Bad-boy movie heroes, images from Google. Left to right, Dana Andrews, William Holden, Paul Newman, Bradley Cooper, Engin Akyurek
Fashions may have changed. Hairstyles may have altered as well. But one thing remains the same. That is the bad-boy movie heroes formula. Each of the following trailers illustrates the constants that make each bad-boy a movie hero.
THE MOVIES AND THEIR BAD-BOY HEROES
1.The trailer for ‘Laura’ with Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney 1944
2.The trailer for ‘Picnic’ with William Holden and Kim Novak 1955
3.The trailer for ‘The Long, Hot Summer’ with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward 1958
4.The trailer for ‘Silver Lining Playbook’ with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence 2012
5.The trailer for Kara Para Ask aka BLACK MONEY Love 2014-2015 with Engin Akyuerk and Tuba Buyukustun
