Malkoçoğlu Cem Sultan

Malkoçoğlu Cem Sultan is a Turkish historic action film by Remzi Aydın Jöntürk. It is one of the numerous collaborations between the famous actor Cüneyt Arkın and Jöntürk. The film belongs to the wave of historic films in the Turkish cinema. The film is about the popular comics character of Ayhan Başoğlu, Malkoçoğlu.

The main character of the film actually has real historical basis as Malkoçoğlu was regarded as one of the loyal Akıncı families of the Ottoman Empire. The film is the dramatization of Başoğlu's comic book of the same name and tells the story of the life struggle of Cem Sultan and how Akıncıs help him. The leader of the Akıncı troops, Malkoçoğlu, trusts a peasant, Polat, and accepts him into his army and gives him the mission to safely guide Cem Sultan to his Frenk allies. Cüneyt Arkın portrays two characters in the film, as a part of his trademark style.

Political Aspect of the Film

Illustrating the class differences in society during the mid Ottoman era is one of the key elements of the film. Poor peasant Polat has to kill a wealthy landlord because he tries to take Polat’s lover away from him by stating that a peasant even doesn’t have the right to talk to such a powerful person. This depiction is a classic of Remzi Jöntürk films, even for the action based ones, frequently emphasizing on class struggles in society. The film also has references to the medieval understanding of honor and how it was, in some cases, more significant than state affairs.