Turkish actor of more than 300 feature films, Cüneyt Arkin died on June 28 at the age of 85. He was best known to nanar enthusiasts for his role in “Turkish Star Wars” (aka Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam in Turkey).
Cüneyt Arkin had been the star of 5 films devoted to Battal Gazi, in which he played this mythical historical figure fighting the crusaders. He will also play several times Kara Murat, a trusted man of the new conqueror of Turkey, capable of resolving the most complicated conflicts in a… muscular way. In France, he was quickly nicknamed the “Turkish Alain Delon” for his resemblance to the actor (especially in his early days).
Because Cüneyt Arkin quickly made a specialty of the roles of “tough”, virile and brawling. We have therefore mostly seen him playing warriors, superheroes, ninjas, solitary cowboys, policemen… All with a certain charisma and piercing blue eyes. He will turn to the chain (sometimes 20 films per year!), often in naive productions, without any means and badly filmed. He is, however, one of the most popular actors in Turkey.
Anit Ticaret
Cüneyt Arkin in Turkish Star Wars
With success, he gradually became a director and producer of his films, sometimes a screenwriter, and shot in all genres. His films often resort to tricks that are often banned today: visible mannequins, barely concealed trampolines, accelerated fights, acrobatics (the man would have made a circus) and grimaces of all kinds.
His career collapsed with that of the so-called “bis” cinema in the early 90s, and was only relaunched with the discovery of his Turkish Star Wars (1982), plagiarism of the Star Wars saga, covering entire sequences from the original film, while stealing excerpts from its soundtrack from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
He is deceased at 85 years old.
Nanarland had paid homage to him during his lifetime:
