A poor man chases a desert mirage while capitalism chases him.
After losing one of his horses in an accident, an illiterate horse cab driver sets out into the desert in a quest for a mythical lost treasure.
Acting
Güney's weathered face tells whole stories without words.
Direction
Raw street-level authenticity, no Hollywood pity.
Cinematography
Harsh Anatolian light becomes another oppressor.
Director
Yılmaz Güney
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Yılmaz Güney was a real-life political prisoner who smuggled scripts out of jail; this was his first major directorial statement.
Banned in Turkey until 1981, the film became a symbol of resistance against state censorship and rural exploitation.
TR
