horse Shiite: This classic Turkish film (although some might wonder at this mainstream movie being called a film) is etched permanently into the psyche of Turkish culture. It's such a shame that there's no kind of film preservation society in Turkey. No One realizes that this film is going to disappear within the next decade or two. If I'm ever successful I've made a promise to my childhood that I'll find a good print of this film and put efforts forward to restore it and preserve it in various formats so that my kids and their kids can one day see it.

Everyone lived those days. Everyone felt the same feelings. We know, we love them. Why? Because, we all have, or we all had the same feelings with them, in the old high school times. We remembered our experiences in the movie... For understanding the feelings of them, it absolutely must be lived by ourselves. If not, it would be a bit hard for loving' it. Maybe, i watched the movie 10 times or more. I never felt bored. I never gave up. And i never will do. Thats why we love, we feel, we CAN live... Its hard to finish speaking about the movie. When i watch it, i always feel the same feelings... I wish i could see them, when they work on. I couldn't. Because of my age. The life... We never can forget them, we never can give up watching again, and again... Thank you.

This is a great comedy but obviously a typical American won't laugh as much as a Turkish person. Kemal Sunal and his classmates play it in the same tradition like Jerry Lewis and Charlie Chaplin. I showed the movie to an American friend, and with some translation, he laughed and enjoyed it, too. So, it is normal for Turks to give it a 10 rating, and non-turks to give a 7.3, and the difference is due to something lost in the translation! The other thing is, the Turks don't laugh at actually what the characters are saying, but HOW they are saying... The facial expressions, the accent, body language.. all contribute... So you have to live for a while in Turkey to fully appreciate this movie...

Whether it's a cultural chasm or an outdated comic sensibility, Hababam sinifi doesn't travel well. The comedy is as juvenile as Welcome Back Kotter, with even flatter characters. The plot revolves around students in their mid-20s (they look more mid-30s) still attending boarding school in Turkey. The "kids" don't want to learn and the teachers -- with one exception -- are inept. The pranks are predictable. The acting and directing are heavy-handed. We were particularly put off by the eye-rolling performance of "The Cow." Production values are poor. Sorry, I wanted to like this flick, but I'm afraid its fans are blinded by nostalgia even more than the fans of 1978's Animal House.