In the movie "A Regular Woman", Hatun “Aynur” Sürücü, the main female character, is dead from the outset, and it is her own voice-over narration with her clinical tone that moves the story along, giving each scene the feel of reportage. Why does the movie begin with a murder case?
To most of us, our family is a blessing. When we find ourselves in a predicament, it is often our parents and siblings who help us find a way out. But what happens to Aynur is a totally different story. Her devout Muslim family, with whom she has emigrated to Berlin, has been a curse to her since her submission to a forced marriage.
Quite in contrast with what is expected of “a regular woman”, Aynur refuses to conform to social and family expectations. As she herself remarks, she qualifies as a “regular woman” only where the first two family rules regarding pre-marriage virginity are concerned. As the story unfolds, her strength of character is shown through her acts of rebelliousness. While pregnant, she runs away from her abusive husband, throws off her headscarf, takes up residence in a group home for young mothers and works in an apprenticeship program as an electrician wearing a male pullover, much to her family’s chagrin.
In fact, Aynur’s parents and her brothers see her behavior as a disgrace to the family. In spite of the crowded nature of the family home, they blame her for moving out with her baby. On the other hand, as time goes by, they resent her occasional visits for fear of her bad influence on her other sisters. They keep pestering Aynur with frequent phone calls, threatening her to give up her social and romantic life, which they deem indecent and shameful.
Their resentment heightens as Can, Aynur’s boy, gradually grows up. Supported by a radical preacher at their mosque, they are determined to do everything they can to prevent the child’s life from being wrecked by Aynur’s undisciplined and irreligious practices. And when their hatred goes beyond control, they resort to an honour killing.
From the above, it can be deduced that the murder’s place in the film serves a very important purpose: it is to cast light on some Muslims’ steadfast, and yet irrational, adherence to their religious ethics, to the extent that they will try every means to put right what they consider non-compliant.
In her voice-over narration, Aynur states the ethical rules in sequence, matching each to her nonconforming behavior, explaining how her death is justified by her family’s standards. On the other hand, she also shows unfailing persistence in liberating herself from these unreasonable religious impositions, even after she is gunned down by her brother, hence her after-death narration.
While feeling sad for Aynur’s misfortune, I cannot help wondering whether she could have escaped death if she had only cut the emotional ties with her family in time. Did she love her family too much?
