Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
A left-wing journalist whose wife died while giving birth to his son during a military coup returns to his family's farm. Estranged from his father for turning his back on the family and wasting his life with political activism instead, he tries to reconnect with him so that his son will have a place to live as his health is deteriorating due to the extensive torture he had to endure.
My Father and My Son (Babam ve Oglum) is a deeply affecting Turkish drama that became a cultural phenomenon. The plot weaves personal reconciliation with the trauma of the 1980 military coup, creating a multigenerational emotional journey that resonates powerfully. The acting, particularly from Çetin Tekindor and Fikret Kuskan, is exceptional — raw, restrained, and heartbreaking. The ending is widely regarded as one of the most emotionally devastating in Turkish cinema, earning its top mark. Cinematography is competent and warmly rendered but not visually distinctive. Novelty is moderate — the father-son reconciliation drama is a familiar form, though the specific Turkish historical context and the three-generation dynamic give it a somewhat singular cultural identity.