Aslan, played by Dogan Izci, is an eleven-year-old boy, who finds Sivas, a wounded fighting dog who has been left in a ditch to die and manages to befriend the dog. Aslan is a problem child, foul-mouthed and always getting into trouble. At home his parents that seem to neglect him and while his grown-up brother Sahin played by Ozan Celik provides a highly questionable moral compass.
Meanwhile, Aslan’s life in the village revolves around the village school and his family. He wants to play to lead in the school play opposite Ayse the princess in the play and who he dreams of impressing. But the leading role in the play and Ayse go to his rival Osman. The scenes of the village school play as the children rehearse Snow White provide a light relief and contrast to dark nights scenes of dog fighting.
The first part of the film focuses mainly on the harsh but homely village life with the Anatolian steppes photographed by Armin Dierolf and Martin Hogsnes Solvang.
But when Sivas recovers starts to win one dog fight after another Aslan becomes a big man in the village even travelling to dog fights with the village head. Aslan quickly becomes caught up on the cruel and dark world of illegal dog fighting and leaves childhood behind.
As a former doc-maker Muidecci deserves kudos if for no other reason than capturing the world of Turkish fighting dogs and the scenes of this illegal sport that he has managed to film. The dog fighting scenes are so real that you are relieved to see the credits at the end that state that no animals were harmed during the filming.
Many will question whether the director has taken a tough enough moral stance on this cruel world though. The director has used amateur actors to tell his story and he draws an exceptionally good performance from Dogan Izci as Aslan.
While Sivas is clearly the one love of Aslan’s life the boy is also hard-nosed enough to continue to fight the dog and see Sivas suffer considerable wounds during the matches.
The action reaches a climax when Sivas is entered in a regional dog fight by Sahin and his friends. Aslan travels with Sivas and the others to the fight which takes place at night.
The vehicles drawn up, the dark menacing atmosphere of the illegal fighting all looks and feels real and menacing. Losing dogs are left to die. After a tough fight where Sivas is egged on in the ring by Aslan the dog triumphs but is serious wounded.
On the way home Aslan begins to have doubts about and says that this would be Sivas last gith but his brother and other others remind him that this is what a fighting dog is meant to do and there is not space for sentimentality.
The film leaves us with a question about whether Aslan will continue to fight Sivas or not but we understand that Aslan has passed into adulthood and beyond the world of his schoolmates.
Sivas (Turkey, Germany)
Directed by Kaan Müjdeci
Cast: Dogan Izci, Çakir, Ozan Çelik, Muttalip Müjdeci, Ezgi Ergin, Hasan Özdemir, Furkan Uyar, Okan Avci, Hasan Yazilitas, Banu Fotocan
