After their meeting at the movies, Onur begins anew to take an interest in Sherazat. He feels remorse for his behavior, but at the heart of his interest, even before his indecent proposal, was his attraction to her.
The company has an Eid party; Kerem and Onur both voice their well wishes with La Bises--a kiss on each cheek. Kerem is first, and not to be outdone, or to let his intentions be unclear, Onur whispers a low, extra greeting in her ear after the second kiss, which also happens to be on the opposite side from Kerem, so he can't see it. A meaningful if small stare passes between them. It's the first time he can be even slightly intimate with her since the night they spent together.
But all the while, as the days pass, he is reliving her accusations about asking him for the money and his reply: that she ought to feel a great benevolence in asking for such a sum from a company she just started working for. He wants to take it all back--that night, his response, his incredible gall and assertions. He wants to have that night not have happened. Firdevs advises him, sometimes you regret something you did; sometimes you regret you didn't do something. He interprets this as that he must take a step. And later, he confides again that he needs to make up for something he did and she tells him to be brave. He resolves to make a grand gesture.
At the office, Kerem says he'll work with Sherazat on the big new project but then later, Peride recruits Sherazat for work with the foundation. Then Kerem wins the Chairman vote. Even though it swings back and forth and has since they've been partners, it adds to the tension of the dynamic. Onur gets testy and possessive. Sherazat is the company's employee, she can't work for the foundation too much. All right then, Kerem asks his mother to invite Sherazat to her house for a meeting on a Saturday. Onur immediately starts thinking of what this means: a piece of her weekend, away from Kaan, and a symbolic acceptance of Sherazat not unlike a daughter-in-law. The music backs him up. And Kerem says he has fallen in love with Sherazat.
Which makes Onur act rashly, and he shows up at Sherazat's doorstep, under the guise of needing a cd for work. They same thing Benu has offered to do for Kerem, so not out of the question, but an odd circumstance for these two.
And Sherazat is pissed. To be there, it means he looked up her address, came over because her phone was turned off, because she wasn't at work any more, and wants a copy of the work that she was planning to give him early in the morning. Now he is hounding her not just at work, but inserting himself into her private life as well. He sees Kaan and says hello, asks if he remembers him from the theater and says how cute he is. Sherazat looks at him furiously. How dare he come to her home, talk to her child and remark how cute he is when he was the one who made demands on her for the money to save him. Especially now that he knows why she needed the money. What he meant as way to ingratiate himself has only provoked her.
But she does invite him and will make a cd copy for him. He tries to be pleasing, saying she can take her time, trying to show her he can be congenial. And in walks Mihriban. He is unaware of who she is but smiles and says a friendly hello. Sherazat introduces her as Kaan's second mother. And we see the confusion on Onur's face. Kaan's bone marrow donor, she elaborates, with some satisfaction at being able to throw this back at him. He wanted to see her private life, then he will get more than he bargained for. Not the sweet, evening at home he thought he might stumble on, but fuel for the fire of all his feelings of remorse. He continues to try to redeem himself however--for that is the course of our story--and takes it in stride. That he accepts this status without question is redeeming.
There is a wall of photographs of Sherazat's late husband Ahmet and Kaan sees Onur looking at it.* Sherazat comes in and sees his open stares too. One thing the show does really well is take its time with glances, notices, watching, long looks. Onur asks if it is her husband--present tense. She affirms that "He is"--not just 'yes'--also present tense. He realizes something in that moment: she still thinks of herself as married to this man, as bound to him, and she feels like she cheated on him in spending the night with Onur. He apologizes...for calling so late. But of course, the long look says he is truly sorry for her loss, for putting her through that, and he knows now, how much more it was than just despicable. How much it cost her personally. In acknowledging her as a widow, in looking at and acknowledging the photos of her husband, he is seeing her as a person, validating her. He shows her he recognizes that there are things he does not know about her, and even if he thinks he happened to glimpse something in the night they shared, that he is not so arrogant now to think he knows anything about her that she does not let him see. He is saying, in effect, "I see you not as I want to, but as you are".
He rubs Kaan's cheek and ruffles his hair as he passes him on his way out. And the boy has seen Onur's acknowledgement of his father.
And then, Onur's grand gesture: he proposes to Sherazat.
A side note: There's a great 2 second look when the girls (Sherazat and Benu) end up joining the boys and their mothers for lunch at the company cafeteria. One of the mothers makes a joke about how whenever they want to do something with a charity, the boys only ask, "How much?" Sherazat, sitting next to Onur, smiles pleasantly and looks at him, as one would in polite conversation. But he looks at her, notices she is looking at him and does a double take. Maybe he's wondering, "Why is she smiling?" and then thinking, "She's smiling at me!" and maybe even wondering if she's thinking about how there's always this subject of money hanging between them and it can come up even in conversations not related to their situation. In the next instant it's forgotten and Onur is looking a different way, but it's fantastic. I love this show for gems like that.
*A note about Onur's relationship with Kaan: It is not the immediate fun and superficial connection with kids that others affect, but a more deliberate and personal path that builds. Onur notices he has learnt some words from Mihriban, who speaks another language, and congratulates him, showing the boy he thinks he is smart, rather than the nondescript gushing Kaan usually gets from adults.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
They Start Falling For Each Other
This is always my favorite part: the beginning.
There is chance meeting of Sherazat and her son with the two men at the movie theater. Kerem has convinced Onur they should go do something, act like they did when they were kids. So it's coincidental that they meet another kid, but also fitting.
We are keyed in to the exact moment Onur sees them. He stops so suddenly Kerem notices and follows his gaze. Onur says her name on a smile. But having the boy actually in front of him, he is overcome, putting his fingers to his lips. The slight action does not go unnoticed by Sherazat. Kerem has crouched down to talk to Kaan but Onur can't bring himself to.
He does however smile affectionately, unabashedly, at Sherazat.
While Kerem is the one talking to Kaan, picking him up, Onur is clearly taken aback by meeting them and can't express himself. It's one of the first times we've seen him be silent not out of severity or reserve--a tamping down of emotion--but rather by being overwhelmed by emotion.
He has shown her kindness at the office since the news got out, offering to let her go to be with her son rather than work late. (He learns the boy's name and that he has a nanny. And asks with some force, where is the father? and finds out Sherazat is a widow.) But we have not seen this open affection from him before. He secretive, coy interest in her still, but not such a clear, open warmth. The Shah is melting.
It is obvious to Sherazat that Onur is riveted, that it is a struggle to contain himself. As Kerem picks the boy up, Onur has completely turned to look at them, to watch Kaan. And when finally Kerem makes a mock introduction to Onur, he shakes Kaan's hand with a caress and cannot resist placing his other hand over the boy's. But it is too much and as he slowing strokes his hand away from Kaan's he sucks in a breath. He is on the verge of tears. More than words can say, his actions, his looks, convey how much he is ashamed of what she has endured at his bidding, both the night they spent together and the times he berated her at the office. Even more so, how he is cognizant of all the worry and hardship she has gone through because of her son's condition--while maintaining a demanding job, as a widow without the help her husband, and without the aid of his family to lean on. He controlled the only salvation she had access to and and he exploited it--exploited her. He is heartily ashamed of himself.
Yet despite having learned more about Onur's past, in the face of his such obvious regret and the tenderness he shows her son, Sherazat doesn't want to acknowledge that he could be capable of this transformation. To her, he is the Black Night they shared. But just as he is seeing how it was an aberration of her character to have gone through with it, she begins to have an inkling that it might have been an aberration of his to have suggested it. And she doesn't want to unpack that notion or open herself up to the possibility.
Kerem is the one who gets to hold Kaan, kiss his cheek, say how cute he is, banter with him, but Onur is definitely the one more touched by him. He even stuns Kerem by saying he'd like to be a father as they watch Sherazat and Kaan walk out of the theater.
And he's already thinking about being a father to Kaan specifically. Later that day he asks Firdevs, his housekeeper, if she thinks it's possible to be a father to someone else's child. The music gets ominous. How can one man love another's progeny? But Firdevs comes though. Yes, love is love and giving it is a good thing. But it does mean giving everything.
And we get a rather long quote from 1001 Nights (paraphrased):
It's hard to be voiceless when you have a tongue (I want to tell her but I can't)
My heart is full (I love her)
But she denies me even her bitterest glance because I broke her heart. To erase that black night, I would give up my fortune.
And here we're hearkening back to Firdevs advice and the music that says 'tough question, it's not usually done'. Onur's mother Peride gives him a lot of flack for not being married, for being careful to find a good sort of girl, even instructing him to find someone from an old family (i.e. a rich, equal status). He will be going against the grain if he pursues the idea of becoming Kaan's father.
Side note: tickling noises in Turkish sound the same as the US: ticka ticka ticka!
There is chance meeting of Sherazat and her son with the two men at the movie theater. Kerem has convinced Onur they should go do something, act like they did when they were kids. So it's coincidental that they meet another kid, but also fitting.
We are keyed in to the exact moment Onur sees them. He stops so suddenly Kerem notices and follows his gaze. Onur says her name on a smile. But having the boy actually in front of him, he is overcome, putting his fingers to his lips. The slight action does not go unnoticed by Sherazat. Kerem has crouched down to talk to Kaan but Onur can't bring himself to.
He does however smile affectionately, unabashedly, at Sherazat.
While Kerem is the one talking to Kaan, picking him up, Onur is clearly taken aback by meeting them and can't express himself. It's one of the first times we've seen him be silent not out of severity or reserve--a tamping down of emotion--but rather by being overwhelmed by emotion.
He has shown her kindness at the office since the news got out, offering to let her go to be with her son rather than work late. (He learns the boy's name and that he has a nanny. And asks with some force, where is the father? and finds out Sherazat is a widow.) But we have not seen this open affection from him before. He secretive, coy interest in her still, but not such a clear, open warmth. The Shah is melting.
It is obvious to Sherazat that Onur is riveted, that it is a struggle to contain himself. As Kerem picks the boy up, Onur has completely turned to look at them, to watch Kaan. And when finally Kerem makes a mock introduction to Onur, he shakes Kaan's hand with a caress and cannot resist placing his other hand over the boy's. But it is too much and as he slowing strokes his hand away from Kaan's he sucks in a breath. He is on the verge of tears. More than words can say, his actions, his looks, convey how much he is ashamed of what she has endured at his bidding, both the night they spent together and the times he berated her at the office. Even more so, how he is cognizant of all the worry and hardship she has gone through because of her son's condition--while maintaining a demanding job, as a widow without the help her husband, and without the aid of his family to lean on. He controlled the only salvation she had access to and and he exploited it--exploited her. He is heartily ashamed of himself.
Yet despite having learned more about Onur's past, in the face of his such obvious regret and the tenderness he shows her son, Sherazat doesn't want to acknowledge that he could be capable of this transformation. To her, he is the Black Night they shared. But just as he is seeing how it was an aberration of her character to have gone through with it, she begins to have an inkling that it might have been an aberration of his to have suggested it. And she doesn't want to unpack that notion or open herself up to the possibility.
Kerem is the one who gets to hold Kaan, kiss his cheek, say how cute he is, banter with him, but Onur is definitely the one more touched by him. He even stuns Kerem by saying he'd like to be a father as they watch Sherazat and Kaan walk out of the theater.
And he's already thinking about being a father to Kaan specifically. Later that day he asks Firdevs, his housekeeper, if she thinks it's possible to be a father to someone else's child. The music gets ominous. How can one man love another's progeny? But Firdevs comes though. Yes, love is love and giving it is a good thing. But it does mean giving everything.
And we get a rather long quote from 1001 Nights (paraphrased):
It's hard to be voiceless when you have a tongue (I want to tell her but I can't)
My heart is full (I love her)
But she denies me even her bitterest glance because I broke her heart. To erase that black night, I would give up my fortune.
And here we're hearkening back to Firdevs advice and the music that says 'tough question, it's not usually done'. Onur's mother Peride gives him a lot of flack for not being married, for being careful to find a good sort of girl, even instructing him to find someone from an old family (i.e. a rich, equal status). He will be going against the grain if he pursues the idea of becoming Kaan's father.
Side note: tickling noises in Turkish sound the same as the US: ticka ticka ticka!
Monday, June 4, 2018
Binbir Gece, The Black Night
The Black Night: the night Onur and Sherazat spend together, his condition for giving her $150,000.
They meet in a hotel. Onur has been secretive about his plans for the evening, not happy with the way it came about but also not wanting to call it off. Sherazat prepares for the evening by closing herself off, literally shutting herself in her bedroom to get ready. She shuts out her son, her new friend, the rest of her home, almost as if to turn herself off and compartmentalize the coming hours.
When they go up to the room they will share for the night, she is like a statue, stopping immobile just inside the door. Onur takes her wrap, release her hair from its band. He is mesmerized, so close to the object he desires, and she is in torture, putting herself through an abhorrent experience out of necessity. He reaches to take the shoulder of her dress down and she raises her hand in an involuntary attempt to clutch the dress back to her chest. They both realize what she's done but it doesn't stop him. He proceeds what he perceives to be tendresse.
In the morning she leaves while she thinks he is still asleep, taking the bag of money he has left. He watches from the balcony as she walks out of the hotel and get into a taxi. She goes immediately to the hospital to give the money over to the doctor for her son Kaan's treatment. She then spends the morning walking around wretchedly and curled up on her bed in the evening. For his part, Onur believes she asked for a loan simply out of gall after getting her promotion. He never considered she had a specific reason for such a sum. And she leaves without a word, taking the money, that he assumes she conducted a transaction that had no emotion behind it.
A meeting in Dubai takes the both of them to a hotel again, alone after the meeting is over, and overnight because there are no flights available. Having misunderstood her motives and unable to stop thinking about her, Onur offers her double the sum for one more night. This time however, she doesn't need the money and can show her true feelings about the proposition. She rejects him with the full force of her disgust. And he has the opportunity to see her unguarded reaction. He apologizes immediately and has to beg her to stay the night--in her own room--and finish out the trip. Once back in Istanbul, before going back to the office though, he forces a stop off for coffee to give them a chance to calm down. He apologizes again, profusely, and sincerely but without really understanding the extent of his transgression. He begs her to not think of it again, that she will never hear anything like this from him again.
He immediately breaks that promise by asking, earnestly baffled, "Why did you sleep with me?"
Because he can't figure it out. He doesn't know if he was mistaken about her motive originally and her repugnance at the thought of a second night gives him pause. As they had been working together since spending their Black Night together he has seen more of her character and begins to feel she is possibly different from other women, despite her actions that night and the morning following. Even to the extent that he asks his housekeeper and confidant, is he a bad person? He is doubting his truths.
Unfortunately in making such supplications only to then demand a reason in the next breath he has completely lost all respect in Sherazat's eyes.
Over the course of Kaan's treatment Sherazat brings him to a foundation event for kids with leukemia. They say hello to major donors, are generally available as an example of what good the foundation can do. And Sherazat is happy to be a part of it. She and Kaan have benefited from the work they do, and she is the kind of person who wants to foster relationships that will help more people. However two of the attendees to the fundraiser are Peride and Secal, Onur and Kerem's mothers. They meet Kaan and Sherazat , not realizing she is the award-winning architect they have been hearing so much about from their sons.
And then it all comes together. Onur's mother is in his office for a visit and in walks Sherazat. Peride explains all about Sherazat's son, his costly operation and how they met at the foundation event. The other three are speechless. Kerem is stunned that she has a son, and that they didn't know the burden she was under. Onur of course suddenly realizes what he has done. He not only assumed she was arrogant enough to ask for a loan based on some small success but also that she thought so little of him that she might sleep with any one who made the offer.
To his credit he cannot look her in the eye while she, defiant, looks straight at him, daring him to show her he knows. He goes into the bathroom and takes a long, hard look at himself in the mirror.
Later that evening the men and their mothers discuss what to do now, having an employee who lied about having a child. Kerem insists they change their rules.
"We're not ruthless people, are we?" Onur's eyes flash to Kerem. Strike one.
Onur asks, will break their business principles? There is a foundation of many years of business practice and will they throw it all out for one woman, however deserving? It mirrors the thoughts he's had all day.
Kerem replies that they are the ones who made the rules, they can change them. Strike two.
Onur agrees off-offhandedly. The mothers are pleased.
"Put yourself in Sherazat's place," Kerem offers. "You need a vast sum for an operation. What would you do?" Onur, of course, has no answer.
"Without thinking for a second, I'd do the same," says Peride. Boom! Strike three.
His mother, who constantly bemoans his father's weakness in allowing a woman to lure him away from his family, has unwittingly taken the side of a woman he paid to spend the night with him. Because she was doing what she had to for her son. And the music confirms the gravitas of the moment.
It's here that we get the vindication we have been waiting on. For even though the whole story is overall a romance and we've witnessed his budding interest and even some small measure of tenderness, (though born of an unhealthy obsession,) here is where we see the full effect of his realization take hold. We need this catharsis to be able to believe in the hero of the romance. We watch a montage of their conversations play out as each of them lay in bed at night and relive moments they regret.
Even after Peride's interjection and Onur's subsequent understanding, he is still only thinking of his behavior towards Sherazat, of his interest in only her. Kerem brings up the question of the boy's father. Where is he? He's checked her file: she's single. So she is either divorced or widowed; which does Onur think it is? Imagine leaving your son in the hospital to come to work; how could she do it? It's only when Kerem brings these questions up that that Onur starts to think about more than just his behavior toward her that one night. Becoming interested in her life, taking a real interest in her son, these are things that will eventually make him fall in love with her. Sherazat also hears about Onur's father, his generosity, the circumstances of his death, all when Onur was just 12 years old. A crack opens for her as well. Some understanding if not affection. Just as in 1001 nights, the more they learn about each other, the more they begin to change.
They meet in a hotel. Onur has been secretive about his plans for the evening, not happy with the way it came about but also not wanting to call it off. Sherazat prepares for the evening by closing herself off, literally shutting herself in her bedroom to get ready. She shuts out her son, her new friend, the rest of her home, almost as if to turn herself off and compartmentalize the coming hours.
When they go up to the room they will share for the night, she is like a statue, stopping immobile just inside the door. Onur takes her wrap, release her hair from its band. He is mesmerized, so close to the object he desires, and she is in torture, putting herself through an abhorrent experience out of necessity. He reaches to take the shoulder of her dress down and she raises her hand in an involuntary attempt to clutch the dress back to her chest. They both realize what she's done but it doesn't stop him. He proceeds what he perceives to be tendresse.
In the morning she leaves while she thinks he is still asleep, taking the bag of money he has left. He watches from the balcony as she walks out of the hotel and get into a taxi. She goes immediately to the hospital to give the money over to the doctor for her son Kaan's treatment. She then spends the morning walking around wretchedly and curled up on her bed in the evening. For his part, Onur believes she asked for a loan simply out of gall after getting her promotion. He never considered she had a specific reason for such a sum. And she leaves without a word, taking the money, that he assumes she conducted a transaction that had no emotion behind it.
A meeting in Dubai takes the both of them to a hotel again, alone after the meeting is over, and overnight because there are no flights available. Having misunderstood her motives and unable to stop thinking about her, Onur offers her double the sum for one more night. This time however, she doesn't need the money and can show her true feelings about the proposition. She rejects him with the full force of her disgust. And he has the opportunity to see her unguarded reaction. He apologizes immediately and has to beg her to stay the night--in her own room--and finish out the trip. Once back in Istanbul, before going back to the office though, he forces a stop off for coffee to give them a chance to calm down. He apologizes again, profusely, and sincerely but without really understanding the extent of his transgression. He begs her to not think of it again, that she will never hear anything like this from him again.
He immediately breaks that promise by asking, earnestly baffled, "Why did you sleep with me?"
Because he can't figure it out. He doesn't know if he was mistaken about her motive originally and her repugnance at the thought of a second night gives him pause. As they had been working together since spending their Black Night together he has seen more of her character and begins to feel she is possibly different from other women, despite her actions that night and the morning following. Even to the extent that he asks his housekeeper and confidant, is he a bad person? He is doubting his truths.
Unfortunately in making such supplications only to then demand a reason in the next breath he has completely lost all respect in Sherazat's eyes.
Over the course of Kaan's treatment Sherazat brings him to a foundation event for kids with leukemia. They say hello to major donors, are generally available as an example of what good the foundation can do. And Sherazat is happy to be a part of it. She and Kaan have benefited from the work they do, and she is the kind of person who wants to foster relationships that will help more people. However two of the attendees to the fundraiser are Peride and Secal, Onur and Kerem's mothers. They meet Kaan and Sherazat , not realizing she is the award-winning architect they have been hearing so much about from their sons.
And then it all comes together. Onur's mother is in his office for a visit and in walks Sherazat. Peride explains all about Sherazat's son, his costly operation and how they met at the foundation event. The other three are speechless. Kerem is stunned that she has a son, and that they didn't know the burden she was under. Onur of course suddenly realizes what he has done. He not only assumed she was arrogant enough to ask for a loan based on some small success but also that she thought so little of him that she might sleep with any one who made the offer.
To his credit he cannot look her in the eye while she, defiant, looks straight at him, daring him to show her he knows. He goes into the bathroom and takes a long, hard look at himself in the mirror.
Later that evening the men and their mothers discuss what to do now, having an employee who lied about having a child. Kerem insists they change their rules.
"We're not ruthless people, are we?" Onur's eyes flash to Kerem. Strike one.
Onur asks, will break their business principles? There is a foundation of many years of business practice and will they throw it all out for one woman, however deserving? It mirrors the thoughts he's had all day.
Kerem replies that they are the ones who made the rules, they can change them. Strike two.
Onur agrees off-offhandedly. The mothers are pleased.
"Put yourself in Sherazat's place," Kerem offers. "You need a vast sum for an operation. What would you do?" Onur, of course, has no answer.
"Without thinking for a second, I'd do the same," says Peride. Boom! Strike three.
His mother, who constantly bemoans his father's weakness in allowing a woman to lure him away from his family, has unwittingly taken the side of a woman he paid to spend the night with him. Because she was doing what she had to for her son. And the music confirms the gravitas of the moment.
It's here that we get the vindication we have been waiting on. For even though the whole story is overall a romance and we've witnessed his budding interest and even some small measure of tenderness, (though born of an unhealthy obsession,) here is where we see the full effect of his realization take hold. We need this catharsis to be able to believe in the hero of the romance. We watch a montage of their conversations play out as each of them lay in bed at night and relive moments they regret.
Even after Peride's interjection and Onur's subsequent understanding, he is still only thinking of his behavior towards Sherazat, of his interest in only her. Kerem brings up the question of the boy's father. Where is he? He's checked her file: she's single. So she is either divorced or widowed; which does Onur think it is? Imagine leaving your son in the hospital to come to work; how could she do it? It's only when Kerem brings these questions up that that Onur starts to think about more than just his behavior toward her that one night. Becoming interested in her life, taking a real interest in her son, these are things that will eventually make him fall in love with her. Sherazat also hears about Onur's father, his generosity, the circumstances of his death, all when Onur was just 12 years old. A crack opens for her as well. Some understanding if not affection. Just as in 1001 nights, the more they learn about each other, the more they begin to change.
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