6 Things I Learned from Ayla: The Daughter of War [Movie]
May 11, 2020
I am not sure if you can find people talking about this movie on your Facebook
timeline, but it happened to mine. I was a bit hesitated to watch at first but
subhanAllah it was definitely a great movie to be appreciated! :)
It is actually a Turkish movie and I have no experience watching any before.
Synopsis:
The story played around the Korean War eras which was between 1950-1953,
where United Nations came to help South Korea from being attacked by North
Korea. One of the countries that send a lot of soldiers was Turkey. A
Turkish brigade was sent there, one of the soldiers was Sergeant Süleyman.
While Ayla was a 5 year old Korean girl, lost her parents when their village
was bombed. The name Ayla was given after she was saved by Süleyman from a
frozen night in the moonlight. Two of them developed deep connection as
father-daughter, where Ayla could be seen around Süleyman almost every time
and everywhere. They were together for almost 1.5 years.
Upon completing his task in South Korea, finally it was time for Süleyman to
return to Turkey and he found it difficult to leave Ayla. They were attached
to each other. Süleyman tried to leave Ayla at Ankara School but ended up
trying to bring Ayla back to Turkey in his suitcase - his mission failed.
Süleyman had to leave Ayla alone. Upon arrival to Turkey, he tried his best
to get in touch with the school but the communication was disaster because
of the war. Both of them reunited after almost 60 years. T__T
This is a real-life story where we can watch the documentary Kore Ayla on
MBC in 2010.
There are lots of lessons can be learned from this movie.
1. "We have to learn to live together."
When Süleyman was asked to get rid of ants on their ship, a comrade suggested to
use oil to kill them. But Süleyman refused to do so, instead he put a 'mountain' of sugar to feed them
so that ants won't bite the people.
Isn't it cuteeeee? :D
Sweet!
2. War Ethics
Ayla was found in the sea of dead bodies.
"Cowards! They slaughtered everyone, even the children."
Somehow, I suddenly recalled the war ethics of Rasulullah - one of them is
don't kill a woman / a child. Ayla witnessed her parents died and refused to
talk, maybe she was traumatized. Süleyman didn't want to leave her anywhere,
he ended up taking her to the base.
The very first time Ayla met Süleyman
I love the contribution of Turkey in this movie. The Turks offered to build a
school for the children - that's Ankara School in Suwon. At the school, the
Korean kids were gathered, given education, taught to survive in life. Here we
can also see some Turks were really taking care of the orphans till one point,
the Koreans felt they should take over those kids and find solution for their
future. But, because of the war (Chinese started helping the North Koreans),
the Koreans decided to let the kids taken care by the Turks first. If you
watch the real-life footage of the documentary, you can see the kids can even
sing a song about Ankara.
3. A kid can learn so fast!
Being traumatized, Ayla didn't speak at all for quite some time. But, we can
see that she was observing her surrounding! She learnt the Turks by listening
and could even count up to 54. Ayla's voice make a comeback when the troops
were counting their number of soldiers. Here, Süleyman realised Ayla can read
some Korean too but she could not recall her own name. Ayla was taught with
Turkish language and she picked up fast and can make conversations with
Süleyman.
Another heartwarming scene was when Ayla called him "baba" after learning
about family. T____T
"Being scared doesn't prevent death. Even Suleyman the Great
died."
Ayla overheard the soldiers chatting if they will be able to return home
after this. Ayla mistakenly thought Suleyman the Great was her baba. She ran
searching for Suleyman and cried.
I am cryingggggg too!
4. "Fathers always fight for their kids. They live for the promises that
they make"
After failed his attempt to bring Ayla onto the ship back to
Turkey, Suleyman accepted the fact that he need to return alone. He promised
himself and Ayla that he will return to meet her.
The scene was heart breaking T_T
Can you imagine a small kid who had lost both parents in front of her eyes,
now need to be apart with the one she loved as a father? T_T
5. The Marriage of Suleyman and Nimet
Upon return to Turkey, Suleyman received another bad news that her supposed to
be wife (Nuran) had already engaged to another person. Suleyman ended up
marrying a girl chosen by his father after a heart break.
After marriage, Suleyman moved to Istanbul and continue with his attempt to be
in touch with Ayla. Somehow, his wife knew his plan and eventually they slowly
search for the solution together. I love how supportive Nimet was to her
husband.
"Look, Suleyman, I am so proud of you for what you have done for that
girl. This is the man I fell in love with. We are married now. Allow me
to help you find her." - Nimet.
"Your daughter is my daughter. Your promise is my promise." - Nimet.
LOVEEEE!
The ending T___T
6. Turkey is Korea's brother country.
This is because of a lot of contribution done by Turkey for South Korea.
History is amazing, right?
It felt so good watching this film and managed to watch the documentary as
well. T_T
Do watch this movie, guyssss! It is on Youtube (I shared below).
Be prepared to cry. T__T
Day 15 of May Photo A Day - Reflection (in advanced hehe)
