“Dark Night” is a 2022 movie directed by Özcan Alper. It’s a film that revolves around a moral reckoning in a society where amnesia has become widespread and also makes use of elements of political tension. The screenplay, co-authored by Alper and originally a novelist named Murat Uyurkulak, won significant awards such as “Best Film” and “Best Screenplay” at the 59th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.

The movie can be divided into segments where an outsider (portrayed by Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu and playing the role of Ali, a newly appointed game warden) arrives in a secluded rural town, encounters the local community, and gradually experiences tension with them. This tension escalates into a criminal case, with someone involved in the case (portrayed by Berkay Ateş as İshak) undergoing a moral reckoning.

The movie unfolds along two primary narrative axes. In a fragmented manner, on one side, we witness İshak’s current moral reckoning and his struggle to find Ali, while on the other side, we see what Ali experienced seven years ago and the events that befell him. The first axis delves deeper into the characters’ psyches and provides a subjective perspective, while the second axis presents events from an objective standpoint. Through the technique known as match cutting, we also observe the narrative connections between the two characters from a storytelling perspective.

Ali is a newly appointed game warden in the town. Even his urban background and blond hair are enough to make him an outsider in the eyes of the local community. He follows the law, but he is unaware that the region he lives in is lawless and unruly. As Ali becomes increasingly marginalized, he is forced to live in a remote cabin, and just as the movie’s title suggests, a dark incident occurs on a “dark night.” When İshak, who is involved in the incident, returns to the town after a full seven years, he has a completely different motivation now.

In the early stages of his filmmaking career, Özcan Alper’s cinema placed a stronger emphasis on nature, and the influence of Theo Angelopoulos was more pronounced. However, in “Black Night,” the director collaborated with cinematographer Roy Imer (who was also the cinematographer for the German movie “System Crasher,” which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival). They harnessed the power of nature but made it more functional in terms of narrative. They employed a contemporary and character-driven camera language. “Black Night” can be considered Özcan Alper’s best movie after “Autumn” in his filmography.

When it comes to the performances, it can be said that Berkay Ateş effectively portrays İshak’s nightmares and his moral torment. Similarly, Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu convincingly brings out the innocence and helplessness of Ali, the character he portrays. Ozan Çelik, who has occasionally appeared in recent Turkish cinema and played a leading role in the movie “Cemil Show,” delivers a commendable performance in portraying a troubled and malevolent character. One of the film’s shortcomings could be defined as the minimal impact of the female characters. Despite Pınar Deniz being a talented actress, her portrayal of the character Sultan appears overly European and creates a casting mismatch. The characters played by Taner Birsel and Sibel Kekilli, both excellent actors who portray Ali’s father and sister, respectively, serve no significant function in the story, and their scenes could be omitted without diminishing the movie.

“Black Night, is a movie that reveals the “inner demons” within us, much like the title of the Sabahattin Ali novel that Ali gives to Sultan to read, in a society plagued by memory problems and easy forgetfulness. Along with thematic and metaphorical similarities to “Burning Days,” it stands out as a prominent and worthwhile political movie in recent Turkish cinema.