During this COVID time, have you found a bit more time on your hands? How about a love story? Well, I have one for you to absolutely lose yourself in!
Kara Para Aşk (Black Money Love) is a Turkish television series from 2014-15 that has had rave reviews all over Europe, but not many of us in the USA have discovered it yet. I stumbled onto it on Netflix, looking for a good series to really get involved in. And I was not the least bit disappointed!
Here are a couple of quotes from reviews (IDMB):
“The best and worst part of Kara Para Ask is its length – it drains you out and at the same time, hooks you at the edge of the seat. The characters start to become your own family, their love, pain becomes yours. This one was my longest netflix drama. Amidst the COVID-19 lockdown situation, these 115 hours with Omar, Elif, Arda, Pelin, Asli, Nilu, Tayaar, Fatih, and Hussein gave me that energy to stay at home for weeks and remain hooked to this memorable life journey of one the most beautiful on-screen couple.”
“Outstanding Acting! Love Engin and Tuba – they have the most amazing chemistry you could ever watch. A brilliant series overall; an excellent crime drama. Metin is one of the most fascinating characters you could ever watch!”
The main love affair is between Ömer Demir (Engin Akyurek) and Elif Denizer (Tuba Büyüküstün). They start out just about as opposite as a pair can be, a young police officer and the daughter of a multi-millionaire, who are thrown together by a double homicide – his fiancée and her father! It turns out to be part of mafia activities centered around international money laundering (black money) and diamond smuggling.
But that’s not all! Between their two families and his police academy classmates, there are at least eight other romances, all intertwined! The viewer is drawn into each one of these relationships, smiling and inwardly cheering when each couple is together and heartbroken when they have their differences and break-ups. All of the actors portrayed their characters with great detail and consistency.
There is one male arch-villain throughout, with a female villain introduced midway. They each have had troubles in their earlier lives, but have clearly chosen the underworld life. All of the love stories are about people who have been sucked into these illegal ventures out of desperation on both sides of the story, including the “white hats” struggling to meet out justice – all in the midst of angst-filled romances and corrupt police, lawyers, and judges.
The settings are historic and delightful. About 95% of the series takes place in Istanbul, from the poorest to the richest settings therein. The other 5% takes place in Rome, even with movie references to Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. (Having made my first visit to Rome just last October, I recognized quite a bit of the background! And now Istanbul is on my bucket list!)
The viewer completely falls in love with the central romance between Ömer and Elif within the first couple of episodes. Ömer is almost a super-hero, with compassion and lots of emotion. But, after all, he is a guy, and can really put his foot into it, over and over again. He is complex, but not as much as Elif. For her part, Elif conveys what is on her mind and in her heart through her eyes and facial expression. One doesn’t need to wait for her to speak or for the subtitles to show up to tell just what kind of plot twist has just happened. When this happens, it is almost always at the end of an episode!
Engin Akyurek is fun to watch, yet one really feels for him every time the couple splits. Tuba Büyüküstün is one of the most beautiful actresses in Turkey – maybe even further afield than that. Her background actually includes a degree in design, and she uses her talents beautifully in scenes where she is drafting jewelry or sketching Ömer. One is drawn into their relationship almost as a family member. I found myself on a number of occasions well past midnight, and an episode ended with them splitting once again. I really couldn’t turn the TV off without at least one more episode hoping they would quickly resolve their new problem. With 164 episodes (45 minutes each) there are 115 hours of binge-watching available. As the end approached, I didn’t want it to be over. It had become a part of my own life for over a month.
You can find Kara Para Aşk (Black Money Love) on YouTube or Netflix. I attempted to watch it dubbed in English, but once you’ve heard their real voices, that just doesn’t cut it. I highly recommend the English subtitles. I guarantee you will feel more a part of this extended family by immersing yourself in the language and atmosphere.