Love, Bitter is a 2009 Turkish drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

, co-produced and directed by A. Taner Elhan, about a literature professor caught in a dangerous love quadrangle. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on , was screened in competition at the 29th International Istanbul Film Festival

29th International Istanbul Film Festival

The 29th International Istanbul Film Festival was a film festival held in Istanbul, Turkey, which ran from April 3 to 18, 2010. More than 200 films were screened in 23 categories at seven movie theatres including Atlas, Rüya, Beyoğlu, Sinepop, Pera Museum theaters in Beyoğlu, the Kadıköy theater...

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Production

The film was shot in 30 days beginning on at the Film Sokağı Studios and on location in Eskişehir

Eskisehir

Eskişehir is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. According to the 2009 census, the population of the city is 631,905. The city is located on the banks of the Porsuk River, 792 m above sea level, where it overlooks the fertile Phrygian Valley. In the nearby...

 and Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

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Synopsis

Orhan, who works as a literature professor at a university in Eskisehir (a city in Central Anatolia), unexpectedly ends his relationship with Ayşe whom he was planning to marry, and comes to Istanbul where he meets Oya. After living possibly the happiest days of his life with Oya, who is a photographer, Orhan finds himself in the midst of a challenging love triangle as a result of the horrible things they encounter the first days of their marriage. Meanwhile, his new student Seda, pulls Orhan towards a point of no return. Tough days are ahead for Orhan whose life is turned upside down, torn between three women.

General Release

The film opened on general release in 74 screens across Turkey on at number six in the Turkish box office chart with an opening weekend gross of US$220,273.

Box Office

The film was in the Turkish box office charts for eight weeks and has made a total gross of US$778,966.

Reviews

Emrah Güler, writing in Hürriyet Daily News, describes the film as, similar to last week’s release of novelist-cum-filmmaker Tuna Kiremitçi’s “Adını Sen Koy” (You Name It), and states that, this film portrays another love triangle of the upper-middle class and is set in Eskişehir. He concludes that, the trailer promises lame a dialog, and he recommends the film to, those who get a kick out of cardboard characters and far-from-subtle cliché romances as found in a recent avalanche of Turkish TV series.