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Türkan Şoray despairs increasingly in this movie-still from 'Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım' (1977)
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Voice of the People!

Turkish Movie Classics
Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım
(The Girl in the Red Scarf)
The Movie Plot

Among the Ten Best Turkish Movies Ever
Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım
The Girl in the Red Scarf
Turkish Movie Database -- Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım (The Girl in the Red Scarf) is among Hürriyet Gazetesi's List of the 10 Best Turkish Movies of all time
A love story starring
Türkan Şoray, Kadir İnanır,
and Ahmet Mekin
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The 10 Best Turkish Movies
The Best Turkish Love Story Movie
Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım
(My Very Tall Man and
My Woman in the Red-tinged Scarf)

Complete plot summary: A beautiful young köylü (Asya played by Türkan Şoray) catches the eye of a 'world wise' long-haul truck driver (İlyas played by Kadir İnanır) when he gets stuck in the mud near her small village. He quickly nicknames her Al Yazmalım; My Woman in the Red-tinged Head-cloth because he doesn't know her real name at first and because a red-tinged yazma is what she is wearing over her head when they first meet by the muddy roadside.

Once İlyas (known as İstanbullu;The Guy from Istanbul to his work mates) manages to break down Asya's initial village-girl's reticence, a whirlwind romance ensues. The young lovers marry -- and at the celebration following the nuptials, their short dance of marital joy is memorable in Turkish cinematic history. (So memorable in fact that a movie-still taken from the dance scene [as seen above] became iconic of the movie, even inspiring [years later] one of the postal stamps in a commemorative set.)

As the happy couple depart the wedding party for their honeymoon, we see that İlyas has changed the name of his 'beloved' truck (from Aldirma Gönül;Cheating Heart to Al Yazmalım;My Woman in the Red-tinged Head-cloth) in Asya's honor -- displayed for all to see, atop the driver's cabin.

Asya is soon pregnant, a son (Samet) is born, and all seems well with the world.

But since nothing stays good (nor bad) forever, İlyas (a flawed handsome devil of a man if there ever was one) begins succumbing to his baser instincts (with the help of some lubricating alcohol) after his suspect-character caves in to problems that arise at work. And in a scene that Asya (somewhat) inadvertently glimpses through an uncovered window, İlyas beds another woman.

Asya and İlyas continue to love each other, but their relationship is in tatters. He lurches off one way, she the other (packing Samet on her back).

Encountering Cemşit
In the love story movie 'Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım' (The Girl with the Red Scarf), Asya and baby Samet encounter Cemşit for the first time.
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Asya despairs increasingly and, almost at the end of her tether, she encounters Cemşit (a kind and decent, but unexciting man played by Ahmet Mekin) who takes the hapless mother and baby under his wing. At first the three live together in mutual respect. But, in time, the growing Samet begins to identify with Cemşit as his father and Asya finally accepts him as a physical 'partner' -- if not her full-fledged no-holds-barred lover (a la İlyas). They even get quasi married in an unofficial imam nikahı performed by an unlicensed cleric in an unattended ceremony.

Life slips into a sort of normality -- and more time passes. Samet grows to young boyhood -- and then one day, in a strange twist of fate, İlyas reappears.

And he wants his wife and son back.

Asya, now caught in the middle, feels she must make a fateful choice between the two men. She realizes that her romantic attraction to İlyas is still very much alive, but she also realizes the debt that she owes Cemşit. Who should she choose, what should she do?

Then, in the movie's final scene, Asya's heartbreaking dilemma becomes abruptly insignificant -- as Samet shows her the way that she must go. Film clip of the final scene of 'Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım' (The Girl with the Red Scarf) -- a 1.8MB Windows Media Video (.WMV) file. Thanks to Noyan Tuzuner, Ankara.

Navigate to a more detailed examination of Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım -- by clicking the illustration at right...

Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım
The Ten Best Turkish Movie List includes the love story film 'Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım' (The Girl with the Red Scarf)
The Girl with the Red Scarf

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    (Found in the 'Introduction to The Whole Earth Catalog of Turkish Movies'.)
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    We are extremely grateful to
    the following movie critics and film historians for the
    Turkish-language source movie-material
    on which some of this page is based:
    Cihan Demirci, Metin Demirhan, Giovanni Scognamillo,
    and Ağah Özgüç.
    We also extend special thanks to
    the movie and film content providers and webmasters
    at the following Turkish websites:
    Sinematurk.com, Telifhaklari.gov.tr, Turksinemasi.net,
    FotoAjans.com, Superresim.com,
    and Kimkimdir.gen.tr

    Learn Turkish language

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    © Turkish Movies Database: Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım starring Türkan Şoray and Kadir İnanır -- Top Ten Turkish Movies