Even though you're destined to love, destiny cannot keep you live forever... Another legendary but sad love story

Once upon a time in the year dot, there has been a ruthless khan of a middle-eastern tribe who is expecting a son to continue his noble bloodline. Years pass one after another, his wives, several sultanas keep on giving birth to girls. One day while the Khan has gone hunting with his aide, he's given an apple by a saint dervish telling them that if the Khan wants to have a son; this apple shall be given to his Sultana, she shall eat the first half of the apple and shall give the other half of the apple to Aide's wife, when they finish eating the apple, they shall sow the seeds to the ground, and if the Khan doesn't tyrannize over his society any more thus the God will give him a son.

Their wives do so. Days later, from the seeds that are sown, one red and one white rose bring into blossom. But the ruthless Khan never gives up tyrannizing over his society, then his Sultana gives birth to a girl again, when he comes down with a serious disease that he is never able to have no more children. The same day, his Aide's wife gives birth to a son, just like the opposite way the Saint dervish promised them to happen. The aide's son is not from a noble bloodline, so he can't become a Khan. Aide names his poor son after "Kerem".

As a last resort, the ruthless Khan gives order to execute all the women in the headquarters, except his daughters, so that they cannot gossip and no one else will know that his last child isn't a boy. Thus the Khan raises his daughter as a boy and names her after Lion Khan(in Turkish "Aslan Bey"). He gives orders to his tribe to make a celebration for that he has a son, now.

In years, Aslan Bey as a boy being brought up in the headquarters without seeing no male other than his father, the Khan. When she's grown up, she becomes a strong warrior not any different than a male warrior. Her first challenge happens to be to win an archery tournament. She was very close to win it, but her last arrow hits the bull's eye when Kerem's last arrow hits her arrow. So the winner draws with Kerem and Aslan Bey. Afterwards they continue their endless races, until the day they first catch each other's eye on the same glance. The night of that day separately they see the same dream, as lovers forever. Since Kerem never considers Aslan Bey as a female, he doesn't find out who the girl in his dream is. But Aslan Bey finds out after her dream that she's secretly in love with Kerem.

In order to stay loyal to her father and her tribe, Aslan Bey never shares her true identity with her secret love; until the Saint dervish comes upon them, revealing Aslan Bey as "Asli" to Kerem, that's when Kerem finds his true love, for deep in meaning Turkish "Asli" means the true one.

This story is a well-known Ottoman legend. And what's legend is that's actually happened in the history as far as the men of Divan literature believe and makes us believe. Under Orhan Elmas's rewritten screenplay and directing, Kerem and Asli is a sad love story. It's mostly pessimistic and plunges the viewer into dark grieves. More than half of the movie is just people getting executed, screams, cryings, endless prayers. Villains torture the good-hearted. The justice is gone. Kerem becomes blind and weak, loses his warrior skills, starts singing and playing the traditional musical instrument, climbs to mountains, composes songs for Asli. Asli falls into deep and painful sufferings in heart, she loses the joy of her life. For the viewer what's hard to bear is even though when they run away from their lives and meet for a short period of time, they cannot be happy no more. Pessimistically, they are full of fear from the fear of losing each other again. 

It's a very heart-breaking story. Looking at the first half of the 1970s', all the love stories, and the Love Story too, were always sad and tear-jerker. They all have the same one final idea in common: Even though you're destined to love, destiny cannot keep you live forever.

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The legendary love story of Kerem and Asli.

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Kerem ile Asli

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