“Hokkabaz” An enchanting film. A celebration of magic!

“Hokkabaz” means in Turkish “The Magician.” This is a delightful film from Turkey. It is funny, wistful, exciting and warm. Never a slow moment, even when I watched it with English subtitles. This film understands the importance of magic, even amateurish magic, and has great affection for the craft of magic that shines throughout the film. I cannot recommend this highly enough. Magicians especially will like it, but anyone who knows what it is like to have a dream will empathize and be carried away with this irresistible romp.

Here is some info from Wikipedia:

“The Magician (Turkish: Hokkabaz) is a 2006 Turkish comedy-drama film, directed by Cem Yılmaz and Ali Taner Baltacı, about a magician who tours around Turkey with his father and best friend so that he can make enough money for laser eye surgery. The film, which was released on October 20, 2006 (2006-10-20), was short-listed for Turkey’s official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 80th Academy Awards but lost out to Takva.

The film was shot on location in Istanbul, Gallipoli and Eceabat, Turkey.^[2]

Plot

Iskender is a juggler. Actually he is a magician but everybody else except himself and his childhood friend Maradona, thinks he is a juggler. The two friends undertake a great deal of risk by including Sait to their tour program while they are forced to escape Istanbul. Moreover Father Sait had quit appreciating Iskender years ago. While the tour makes them come much closer, it also results in a magnificent fall-out. Iskender, Maradona and Sait, keep coming back together and falling out with their fellow traveler Fatma.

Cast

• Cem Yılmaz as İskender Tünaydın
• Mazhar Alanson as Sait Tünaydın
• Özlem Tekin as Fatma Nur Gaye Türksönmez
• Tuna Orhan as Maradona – Orhan Direk

Release

The film opened in 378 screens across Turkey on October 20, 2006 (2006-10-20) at number one in the Turkish box office chart with an opening weekend gross of $1,462,608 and was later released across a number of European territories.”

–Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magician_(2006_film)