Besides the amazingly talented cast, the fact that it was based on a true story made it so touching.
It's a Turkish movie, by one of my favorite directors, Çağan Irmak.
"Dedemin Insanları" (My Grandpa's People).
That's the title.
It's a story told from the point of view of a young man in his twenties as he's thinking back to his childhood, and his memories with his grandfather.
The movie is set in the 80s in a small village in Izmir, which is the third largest city in Turkey, and thoroughly and accurately depicts the difficulties experienced by those who were part of the Turkish-Greek population exchange of 1923-1924.
The movie smells of Turkey, of the Aegean region, and reminded me once again of why I love my country so much (at least the version of my country and its people that is portrayed in this movie).
The warmth, kindness, and helpfulness of people are unlike any of those I have yet to see in any other part of the world.
Furthermore, the relationship between the grandfather and his grandson, and-I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone who might watch it- the ending reminded me of how much I miss my grandpa (my father's father) who passed away about seven years ago, and how much I should try and be with those who are still with me.
Some people leave this world, but they continue to live in ourselves, in other members of our family, in old and new photographs we have of them, in a pen we find on the back of our wardrobe which used to belong to them, or in a distant tune we hear in the radio.
That's the feeling this movie left in me.
I laughed and I cried, and I loved every moment of it.
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