Erdem Tepegöz’ün Gölgeler İçinde’ki Distopik Dünyasında Kavramsal Bir Gezinti
A Conceptual Journey Through Erdem Tepegöz’s Dystopian World in “Gölgeler İçinde (In the Shadows)”

Summary/Abstract: Cinema, which confers almost every aspect of human life, generates new perspectives on altering life practices. Besides, advancements in technology continue to contribute to the cinema and to stretch one’s imagination. In the mechanized world, the superior features of the tools make one ideate the future and feed dystopian science-fiction films. Research on dystopia, depicting pessimistic pictures about the future, ignores the hopes for salvation by addressing the inequalities in society and becomes the harbinger of the continuation of the current cycle. Written and directed by Erdem Tepegöz, “Gölgeler İçinde” successfully unveils the dystopian elements of the contemporary world to screen. Being the first comprehensive dystopian movie in Turkish cinema, it can be considered a pioneer in Turkish cinema and becomes a fruitful subject for prospective researchers. Surveillance tools that are an indispensable part of the capitalist system dominate and control individuals and serve the continuity of cyclical movements. The images in the film suggesting the impact of surveillance on the working class also encapsulate sociological and philosophical implications referring to dystopian elements. The conceptual extensions of visual images are particularly intense in the film. The limited use of colors also inevitably denounces spaces more. Likewise, the identification of the protagonist with Christ leaves the audience in limbo and casts doubt on the finale. However, in the end, a vapid, mechanical sound from the darkness removes the doubt and gives the audience an idea about the continuity of the dystopian world due to a reproducing cycle.

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