SANEM’S CHARACTERISATION

EPISODE 16 – part 1

In the present text I am going to discuss the characterisation of Sanem (one of the protagonists of Early Bird). My objective is arguing how the director introduces Sanem in the first part of the 16^th episode.

First of all, you can understand the director wants the watcher to be plunged in the scene. There is no suspense or expectative: the interaction with the characters is direct, immediate. In particular, the setting has an important role. You can see that it is late, dark and the two protagonists are arguing in front of a luna-park, which is usually associate with fun. That is a strange effect the director choses.

You can also note Sanem is making a big confession and she is crying, she is speaking a lot, but with a low tone of voice, that makes you think she is scared about Can’s reaction. Indeed, he appears stoned in front of her and try to retreat. Sanem shows her emotions through her face, while Can is immovable and try to understand what she is saying. The director compares two different qualities of the main characters: Senem is more instinctive and follow her feelings, Can is rational and starts asking lots of things to Sanem, without listening the answers. The situation seems to be reversed, now Can is talking nonsense and Sanem try in vain to give him an explanation. The director uses the pretext to make Sanem the victim of the situation. She stands in front of him, keeping her head down as a repented, honest person, while Can is assaulting her with his words. Sanem appears as a beaten dog. Therefore, the watcher can understand her strong personality and her bravery. She is very honest and she knows to have made a mistake, so she is suffering the consequences. For this reason, the spectator feels sorry for her.

Then the scene changes and Emre appears in a dark and lonely road. You can imagine something sinister is going to happen: he gives a bag with a lot of money to a man the watcher has never seen before.

After that, the scene returns to Sanem and Can. The girl confesses she has been forced to lie, Emre forced her. Therefore, Can is confused and shocked. He also appears angry with himself because his prejudices about Sanem were false. He feels like in a nightmare. He calls his brother to understand if Sanem is lying again. The director uses the telephone call to introduce the second scene were Can will talk and argue with her brother.

After Can drives away, Sanem calls Emre and tells him everything about what she said. The director focuses the viewer’s attention on Sanem’s most important quality: honesty. She wants to be sincere with both Can and Emre.