After i watched a few episodes, it seemed I had seen these story lines before. A woman is in jail for almost killing her husband. CHECK. She has a teenage daughter. CHECK. The warden is killed and the death is blamed on the new woman. CHECK. The warden's husband, who also works at the prison, is determined to find the killer. CHECK. One of the chief baddies was on a reality cooking show. CHECK, DOUBLE CHECK and TRIPLE CHECK. This is a Turkish version of "Wentworth"-- which is one of my MOST favorite TV shows. See previous reviews here.
Apparently there are also Dutch, German and Belgian version of the show. Who knew? I'll have to check those out too.
It is interesting to see how Wentworth and Avlu differ. Here are a few of the changes:
- Children- Children are allowed to stay with their mothers in this version. It's a bit troublesome to see kids in this environment given what goes on. The only children we saw in "Wentworth" were during visitations or with the occasional pregger inmate.
- Music- The prisoners break into song on several occasions. This never happens in the original.
- Language- On NetFlix, you can either watch the show on it's default (English voice overs) or switch to Turkish and read English subtitles. The English voice actors dont seem to match their characters AT ALL and take you out of the action of the show. i switched back to Turkish and enjoyed it much more.
- Violence and Sexual Content- The Turkish version is, thus far, much less violent than the Australian version. The big gang fight in the laundry was laughable and not at all realistic. They just slapped each other and pulled one another's hair. There's also no nudity and no cussing. Not that I need that to enjoy the show but it's a bit strange to have a shower scene and not see anyone naked. There are also no references to lesbians. This is a big omission given the very "out" behavior of Frankie (and other characters) in the original. I assume this had to be removed due to religious differences.
- Story Lines- The story follows the basics of the original but has some changes. We're getting to see lots more of Bea's husband in this version. We see much more of the court proceeding here. We rarely saw the inmates in "Wentworth" outside the prison. At the end of season one we have Kudret making good on her threat to harm Deniz's daughter. This is the same as the originals. Deniz may turn into a stone cold bitch as a result. I cant wait to see what happens next.
- Cultural Differences- Obviously, the shows take place in two different countries. In the original, we learn Aussie slang such as "cuppa' and "lagger". Here we see the main character referred to as "lambkin" and a "grape". I'm not sure if those are insults or not. I look forward to learning more about the Turkish culture and more slang.
https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/netflix-picks-up-turkish-prison-drama-series-the-yard/
https://www.tvserial.it/avlu-the-yard-serie-tv-quando-esce-trama-cast-streaming/
https://www.netflix.com/title/81086462
GMonsterTV
TV: Heavy On Sci Fi, Horror & Adventure
November 2, 2019
As far as the children section, in wentworth Doreen has her daughter there, though she did have someone take her.
ReplyDeleteAlso in wentworth doreen was nominated carer for the junkies child and bea insults her by saying prison is no place for her child (meaning debbie) but doreen takes offence and liz says don't worry shes giving up the ciggies! She then in epsiode 3 I think or 4 sends rhe junkie past fletcher so that the kid has to leave the prison.
ReplyDeleteSo yep kids are allowed and then don't forget she keeps her son for a while before giving him to her fella to raise.
This is so much worse than Wentworth!!!!
ReplyDeleteI watched Avlu until the end and even though I didn't like it from the start I can say that it is now one of my favorite series. I just loved it.
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