Mustang (Denis Camze Erguven, 2015): France|Germany|Turkey

Reviewed by Maxime de Rooij. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2015 in Hollywood.

The movie was intense and great to see. After the movie, we saw the five girls who were the main actresses in the film and we had the possibility to ask them questions. I think it is great that the filmfestival gave us this opportunity.

This impressive film is written by Dniz Gamze Erguven and Alice Winocour. The five wonderful girls, lale which has been played by Gunes Sensoy, nur by Doga Zeynep Dogusly, Ece by Elit Iscan, Selma by Tugba Sungurogly and Sonay played by Ilayda Akdogan.

The movie is about the five girls who leaves their homes and school and need to go to their grandparents. The grandmother learned the girls cooking, cleaning and to sew. They need to wear long dresses and they can’t do that much anymore. For the family is it is very important what the people in the village think about them. One time the girls wanted to go to a soccer game but their grandmother didn’t want them to go. Despite what their grandparents said, the girls went to the game. Then the grandmother saw them on television and the whole village can see that, so the grandmother switched the whole electricity off in the city. This was funny to see how she switched the whole electricity off.

Soon the two oldest girls got married but the family will choose their man, even if you don’t like him. For their religion, a girl need to blood for the first time when they have sex. Otherwise she can not be seen as a virgin. So then the girl had sex with her man, but she did not bleed. Her man’s family thought she was not a virgin, thats why they brought her to the hospital to check it if she was virgin or not.

But than one of the girls need to marry, but she didn’t want that. The house feels like a prison to her and she is done with that life, so she commits suicide. When the last girl need to marry, they try to get out of the house. They want to leave their grandparents. So the girls closed the doors just before she got married. Only the two girls are in the house. The grandfather get angry and tried to get in the house. The two girl escape out the house and run away to a friend. Their friend brings them to a bus station. The girls took the bus to Istandbul. Finally, they are free.

There is a lot of music among other Turkish music what makes it applicable. Also the actors wear a lot of Turkish clothes.

There is a lot of extreme close-up of their eyes, That makes it more intense. A lot of non-diegetic sound/music for a emotional purpose. And when the girls finally fight for their freedom and leave the house. It is dark outside, I think this was on purpose. There is a lot of wild shot’s with the camera,. I think because the five girls are young and wild but they are not allowed to be wild. That’s why the shots are more wild so they did it on purpose. The camera follows the quick movements of the girls.

When the girl found freedom, a lot of light showed up in the shot’s. Bright colours are typical colours for freedom.

I saw a movie in my own country, the Netherlands. The movie was called: Do not touch my children. For me this movie is very similar to the movie I have seen in Hollywood.     ‘’Do not touch my children’’ is about parents who are divorced. The dad takes his children to Morakko and the mother wants them back. The father is strict to his children and educates them in the Islamic way. The children notices that this is not right and they try to leave their father. At the end this works and they go back to their mom in Holland. Both films are about children who thinks it is not fear the way they live, and they try to escape from their family. Nobody could help the girls in both films and they need to do it on their own. Two wonderful movie’s about freedom. and it is beautiful to see that the children can make fun with the small things in life.

I think it is important that everyone sees this film. In special, in Turkey and Marokko, because this is still going on nowadays. Girls lives in ‘prison’ because of the religion. It is unfair what happens to them. It is beautiful and interesting to see how five girls make fun and how they deal with this life. If you like stories who are based on true stories, and with a lot of different aspects of life, than this is the perfect movie for you to see!