Product Details

• Actors: Ozgu Namal, Murat Han, Talat Bulut
• Directors: Abdullah Oguz
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Turkish
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
• DVD Release Date: February 23, 2010
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002U4F5W2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,506 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Bliss" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Honor Crime Movie, November 17, 2009

By 

S. L. Meyer "moroccogirl" (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bliss (DVD)

This is an excellent movie based on a book by the same name about a beautiful Turkish girl who is found to be "tainted" (she was actually raped)& is placed in a barn with a noose while people, including her hateful stepmother, expect her to hang herself. The girl refuses, and, instead, is sent to Istanbul with her male cousin who is supposed to "finish the job" there. I can't tell you anything else because it would spoil the movie, but there's an interesting relationship that develops between the cousins and a forward-thinking university professor who is disillusioned with his life. Stunning shots of Turkey included.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Complex Look at Honor Killings, June 22, 2010

By 

bunnyrabbit4 (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bliss (DVD)

Bliss is a film about the status and symbolic value of a woman in some Moslem cultures. It is a status so low that they can be murdered by their family if someone rapes them. Meryam is such a woman. After being viciously raped and lacking the money or education to flee her fate, she is forced to follow the son of her father's cousin, Cermal, to Istanbul, where he has been ordered to kill her. This could have easily turned into a bash Islam movie, instead, it becomes a character study of people caught between the modern Islamic world of Istanbul and the brutal rural customs of the remote countryside.

Though Meryam is the central figure in the story and we certainly feel her anguish, the story focuses as much if not more on Cermal. She has already been tested by emotional adversity and forced to break with her culture as the story opens. Cermal's journey is just beginning. The ruse designed to hide the real intention behind the trip is going to visit their relatives in Istanbul. The couple they visit have fled the village and its harsh authoritarian relationship between parent and child. They understand what Cermel is being asked to do, but their view of honor killing is at least tempered by whether the woman was guilty of putting herself "at risk" to be raped. While Cermal is still caught in the throes of his culture's black and white thinking, they can see the gray. What makes the film most interesting is not the plot, it is the growth and struggle of the characters as they are forced to adjust to a new culture that lacks rigid scripts. It is the careful unfolding of these characters and the baring of a humanity, hidden beneath layers of prescribed attitudes and behaviors, that takes this film from good to great.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic drama, May 26, 2010

By 

William B. Dwinnell IV (King of Prussia, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bliss (DVD)

"Bliss" ("Mutluluk", in Turkish) is the story of a young woman from rural Turkey who is discovered, unconscious and partially disrobed, on the edge of a lake near her village. The movie follows the events subsequent to this discovery. The village is scandalized by the perceived sexual misconduct on the part of this woman and her punishment determines the course of the plot.

Acting was superb, with performances, in turn, heart-wrenching, funny and insightful. Cinematography was very good, showing off the Turkish countryside and the city of Istanbul well.

The DVD delivers audio in Dolby Pro Logic, and the extras are meager.


Note: This DVD employs the original Turkish language audio track, and provides English subtitles. We found the subtitles a bit small, making it challenging to read them on our old, admittedly past-its-prime CRT TV, but completely legible on our plasma set.