Director: Deniz Gamze Erguven
Cast: Gunes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan
Running Time: 97 mins
Release Date: May 2016
Five young girls’ lives are changed forever after they are seen innocently playing with a group of boys. Their family are appalled and begin to shut them away from the outside world and schedule arranged marriages.
Mustang deals with something that is unfortunately quite common; young girls being forced into arranged marriages to men they have never met before, to please their families. The girls are seen playing with a group of boys their own age in the sea after school. A shocked neighbour reports this to the girls’ grandmother and their uncle. The girls are immediately shut away from their previous lives and begin the preparations to enter arranged marriages.
At the centre of Mustang is Lale (Gunes Sensoy) who is the youngest of the girls and the most determined to live her own life. She watches as her older relatives are taught how to be obedient wives. At one point she even refers to their house as ‘a wife factory.’ It’s very bold for Mustang to mention and portray so many difficult topics such as suicide, rape, and sexism, but it somehow manages to do so in a very respectful and tasteful way.
The film becomes an escape drama, with Lale deciding she is going to try to run away to Istanbul to find her teacher. Up until this point, the film moves at a very slow pace and can be a little boring at some points. However, the film overall is very interesting, you see each step in a young woman’s journey towards early marriage. You also get to see four different scenarios for this, some wives who are happy, some who are sad, and some who just cannot cope with it. This is the strongest aspect of Mustang, it gives a somewhat balanced view of the issue.
Overall, Mustang is a very competent and well-made film. The five girls all perform really well, in particular Gunes Sensoy. It’s not an easy subject to discuss, but Mustang manages to do so in an eloquent and thought-provoking way.
Verdict
