Film Review: Remake, Remix, Rip-Off (Germany/Turkey 2014) (Director: Cem Kaya) (Turkish with English Subtitles), Cineworld, Screen Twelve, Edinburgh, Sunday 21.06.2015, 20:35 (Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015) (U.K. Premiere)

The advertising blurb for this film states that it is about 'Copy Culture and Turkish Pop Cinema'. Ostensibly it is, though pretty soon it becomes clear that the film has no real sense as to what it is trying to say or what it is focusing upon. 

There are several very funny clips of films that look awful in terms of visual quality (for example pinched Star Wars footage with some Turkish footage plonked on top) and where the same stories are being blatantly retread again and again. 

There are several amusing anecdotes as well, though there are passages that don't appear to add anything. Sadly the film dragged towards the end. The large font text on screen, there to help understand what the examples are that are being shown, sadly add to the confusion, as try to say too much in too many languages at once. 

Regrettably a film that should have offered some understanding as to why Turkey had this conveyor-belt of nonsense whilst at the same time producing reputable films, in my eyes waisted it's opportunity to be interesting. 

Sadly, just before the end of the film, there is a glimpse of the frustration felt by a 'director' who never got to make a proper film. This is far more the detail I would have liked the film to focus upon. Maybe this is a way of some mystique being kept. Possibly Turkish Pop Culture Cinema needs people to just accept without understanding the nitty-gritty. It is after all harder to laugh when you know the details that are lamentably pitiful and tragic. Sadly I don't feel I can recommend this even for those interested in the weirder elements of life. 

Rating: 04/10.