26 December 2009 / ,
It may be the first modern Christmas movie ever made for audiences in Turkey, a mostly Muslim country that does not celebrate Christmas.
“Neşeli Hayat” or “A Cheerful Life” is the story of a down-on-his-luck, working class Turk who is hired to work as a mall Santa. The trouble is he doesn’t really know who Santa Claus is, and needs some very basic lessons. In one scene, a manager drills the main character, Rıza and several other hired Santas on how to give Saint Nick’s hearty bellow, “ho-ho-ho.” The writer, director and actor who played Rıza, Yılmaz Erdoğan, says his character is a metaphorical bridge between two worlds in Turkey: wealthier, upper class Turks who live a “Western” lifestyle and have adopted the trappings of Christmas to celebrate the new year, and poorer Turks who have emigrated from the Anatolian heartland to the big city and are more familiar with traditionally “Middle Eastern” customs.
