17-year-old Jîn takes part in the Turkish-Kurdish conflict as a Kurdish guerrilla fighter. But she wants to leave it all behind and seek refuge in another part of the country...
But more than a documentary observation about an actual war conflict, "Jîn" can be taken as a universal story
According to the director's own declarations in the Q&A session following the screening of the movie at the 63rd edition of the Berlin Film Festival the title giving name has two different meanings: in Kurdish "Jîn" means "Life", while in Turkish, although without the circumflex, it means "Woman".
Therefore an explanation of the film could be given on various levels. Of course, Jîn, although not yet of age, is first of all seen as a woman, and, more than that, as a Kurdish woman, who - traveling alone – is considered an easy prey by the males that surround her. Several attempts of rape occur, and it is significant that Jîn always defends herself like a fierce animal in order to keep her innocence intact.
Innocence is lost nevertheless. This, however, is shown not by the girl herself, but by the landscape in which she has to survive. Being on the run and having no friends to save or protect her, Jîn is often seen as a lonely inhabitant of the forest or the mountain. But these apparently inhospitable places, in which for any human soul it would seem difficult to stay alive, develop into a kind of enchanted realm in which a secret communication takes place between the protagonist and its local dwellers: birds, sheep, turtles and even a bear. It is in this kingdom of animals that Jîn finds the protection that the human world cannot offer her.
The destruction of war, however, does not stop at the frontiers of paradise. When the detonations of artillery and bombs strike the remoteness of the land, we witness the bewilderment of the animals – as if they could not believe their eyes. Paradise all of a sudden is smeared by the sin of human insensitivity. Is all hope gone?
Fortunately Jîn, this time with the circumflex, is the owner of a speaking name and therefore opposed to the forces of death and destruction. She shows this by not killing the Turkish soldier, when she is alone with him in the forest. Her taking care of and eventually healing him, which took her a great deal of pain and effort, was not understandable to some parts of the audience: Why did she not take the chance to take revenge? After all, her father was killed by the Turks, when she was only two, and all the trouble of her life started back then!
But such an action would just provoke a continuation of the spiral of violence and not lead to a good end. It is thanks to film makers like Reha Erdem and the fictitious character invented by him that we are shown a pathway into a better world. Jîn, that innocent girl, at the end of the movie – though heavily wounded – is not dead. It is only up to the people in the world to revive her – so that she finally will get what she always wanted and what she fully deserves: a "Life".
But more than a documentary observation about an actual war conflict, "Jîn" can be taken as a universal story
According to the director's own declarations in the Q&A session following the screening of the movie at the 63rd edition of the Berlin Film Festival the title giving name has two different meanings: in Kurdish "Jîn" means "Life", while in Turkish, although without the circumflex, it means "Woman".
Therefore an explanation of the film could be given on various levels. Of course, Jîn, although not yet of age, is first of all seen as a woman, and, more than that, as a Kurdish woman, who - traveling alone – is considered an easy prey by the males that surround her. Several attempts of rape occur, and it is significant that Jîn always defends herself like a fierce animal in order to keep her innocence intact.
Innocence is lost nevertheless. This, however, is shown not by the girl herself, but by the landscape in which she has to survive. Being on the run and having no friends to save or protect her, Jîn is often seen as a lonely inhabitant of the forest or the mountain. But these apparently inhospitable places, in which for any human soul it would seem difficult to stay alive, develop into a kind of enchanted realm in which a secret communication takes place between the protagonist and its local dwellers: birds, sheep, turtles and even a bear. It is in this kingdom of animals that Jîn finds the protection that the human world cannot offer her.
The destruction of war, however, does not stop at the frontiers of paradise. When the detonations of artillery and bombs strike the remoteness of the land, we witness the bewilderment of the animals – as if they could not believe their eyes. Paradise all of a sudden is smeared by the sin of human insensitivity. Is all hope gone?
Fortunately Jîn, this time with the circumflex, is the owner of a speaking name and therefore opposed to the forces of death and destruction. She shows this by not killing the Turkish soldier, when she is alone with him in the forest. Her taking care of and eventually healing him, which took her a great deal of pain and effort, was not understandable to some parts of the audience: Why did she not take the chance to take revenge? After all, her father was killed by the Turks, when she was only two, and all the trouble of her life started back then!
But such an action would just provoke a continuation of the spiral of violence and not lead to a good end. It is thanks to film makers like Reha Erdem and the fictitious character invented by him that we are shown a pathway into a better world. Jîn, that innocent girl, at the end of the movie – though heavily wounded – is not dead. It is only up to the people in the world to revive her – so that she finally will get what she always wanted and what she fully deserves: a "Life".