"Pak Panther" - a story about a kidnapped Turkish energy minister in the Azerbaijani capital Baku

Turkish comedy-action film ‘Pak Panter’ will be released Friday. Director Metin Aslan’s film tells about the comic events of a Turkish agent in Russia. ‘We are a self-confident and defiant nation. We try to tell in this film how a Turkish person becomes an agent with awesome self-confidence,' says Aslan.

Turkish film “Pak Panter” (Pak Panther), which tells the story of a Turkish-style secret agent, will be released Friday and expected to bring belly laughs to audiences everywhere.

The Turkish secret agent, who is sent to Russia by the Pak Panther organization in order to find the kidnapped Turkish energy minister in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, bedazzles even Russian agents.

The film’s genre is comedy-action and director is Metin Aslan, who also directed “Türkler Çıldırmış Olmalı” (Turks Must Be Crazy) and “Maskeli Beşler” (The Masked Gang).

Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Aslan said in his film he satirized Turkey and the viewpoint of Turkish people. “This film tells the viewpoint of paranoid governments on themselves and on the world. We are an excessively defiant and self-confident nation; everyone knows everything. We try to show in this black comedy how a Turkish person becomes an agent with this excessive self-confidence.”

He said it would be a big mistake to see this film as a comedy. “If our goal is to laugh and have fun, of course there is nothing to say but an audience, which is not defiant, understands what it is behind comedy, perceives the details that I try to tell,” he said.

‘We are defiant and have a complex’

As for the name of the film, “Pak Panther,” Aslan said: “I said that this film is a satirical one rather than a comedy. ‘Pak’ symbolizes ‘cleanliness’ in Turkish. This is what we reference with this title ‘Pak Panther.’ I don’t shoot a film as a director only, I give messages at the same time. Because I believe that cinema should have a say, like in every other branch of art.”

When asked why he satirized his own society and country, Aslan said: “I clearly say that we are a defiant society. Not only ordinary people but also those who act like intellectuals have complexes, too. The people of my country are in pursuit of discovering others, not only themselves.”

Screenplay according to artists

Aslan said he wrote the screenplay for the film many years ago with famous Turkish comedy actor Şafak Sezer in mind but was not able to adapt it to the screen. “As a director, I don’t create imaginary characters. I determine the actors and write the screenplay. It is not difficult for me; it is my style and I enjoy it. I don’t write a script first and then try to find actors.”

Aslan said they shot the film in various Turkish provinces. He said he take pains to make a film every year. “I could make a film every five years, but I produce all the time, because I, my team and my artists earn their living thanks to cinema.”

The agent

Metin Zakoğlu, who plays the agent in the film, said he enjoyed acting in the film although he was traditionally a theater actor. He called it an important experience. Zakoğlu said, “Now I know that I love cinema but I am also aware of its deficiencies.”

Stating that the stunt scenes were very difficult for him, Zakoğlu continued: “Turkish artists have deficiencies, I experienced it in my role. You see in the portfolio of foreign artists that they have all types of training, from dance to music and the art of fighting. I am happy to be working with Aslan. Comedy films in Turkey are always exaggerated but our director told us to be natural.”

About the film

An agent is produced in a laboratory for the Pak Panther organization but has defects. The Turkish energy minister is kidnapped during an official visit to Baku. The Pak Panther organization sends the agent to Russia to save the minister and he meets Russian agents there. When the Russian agents ask him how to save the minister, the actions of the Turkish agent bedazzle them.


/Hurriyet Daily News/