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This 10-time national film award winning film, by
Turkish- Cypriot director Dervish
Zaim, is about corruption in high levels in Turkey.
'When elephants romp, the grass gets destroyed' is an old Turkish proverb that gives the film its name. The story is based on the Susurluk scandal of 1996. The intertwined stories of a corrupt politician, a corrupt intelligence officer, a hit man, a mafia leader, and a marathon runner (and her brother, a veteran of war in south-eastern Turkey) 'should be viewed as a film noir in the spirit of a docudrama', the director suggests, certainly not as a strict political commentary.
Even though the events have been inspired by the Susurluk scandal, Zaim says, 'I did not intend to sort out the crimes or criminals of that political scandal. Based on my research, I wanted to tell various tracks of stories and let my viewers choose the one they most wanted to dwell on.'
While presenting different characters and their entangled stories which, all together, offer a panoramic view of various kinds of power relationships in the 1980s, Zaim seems to wish the young marathon runner and her fans have a special place on the future panoramic view of Turkish society!
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