Memed, My Hawk (film)

Memed, My Hawk is a 1984 British-Yugoslav drama film directed by and starring Peter Ustinov, with Herbert Lom, Denis Quilley and Michael Elphick. The film's cinematographer was Freddie Francis and featured music by Manos Hadjidakis. ^[1] It is an adaptation of the 1955 Turkish novel Memed, My Hawk, the debut novel of Yaşar Kemal, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Memed, My Hawk was produced in Yugoslavia following the Turkish government's refusal of permission to film.^[2]

Plot

In 1920s Turkey, Memed, a young peasant, and his childhood sweetheart, Hatçe, are in love. However, a feudal landlord wants the girl for his own son. Consequently, the young lovers elope, and Memed becomes a brigand, now waging war against feudal landlords.

Cast

• Peter Ustinov – Abdi Aga
• Herbert Lom – Ali Safa Bey
• Denis Quilley – Recep
• Michael Elphick – Cabbar
• Simon Dutton – Memed
• Leonie Mellinger – Hatçe
• Siobhán McKenna – Iroz
• Marne Maitland – Süleyman
• Michael Gough – Kerimoglu
• T. P. McKenna – Dursan
• Jeffry Wickham – Captain Faruk