Director Can Ulkay deliberately shot the war scenes in desaturated grays and blues, but every scene with Ayla is flooded with golden, warm light. It is a visual metaphor: The child is the only color in a world gone monochrome.
By [Staff Writer]
The documentary footage played at the end of the film is real. We see the frail, white-haired Süleyman stare at a laptop. On the screen is a 65-year-old Korean woman, crying. Ayla- The Daughter of War
Ayla is not a war film. It is a love film. It will remind you that amidst the worst of humanity, a single act of kindness can echo across sixty years and two continents. Director Can Ulkay deliberately shot the war scenes
Streaming on: Netflix Warning: Keep tissues nearby. Multiple boxes. Post-Credits Note: The real Ayla (now known as Ayla Dilbirliği) still lives in Ankara, Turkey. She tends to the grave of Süleyman every week. When asked what he taught her, she smiles and says: "That family isn't blood. Family is whoever doesn't let go." We see the frail, white-haired Süleyman stare at a laptop
When he boards the military truck, Ayla runs after it, screaming the only Turkish word she knows: "Baba!" (Father).
(2017) is that film.