“Rıza, a typical example of life here, is the victim of his fears and is pursued by feelings of guilt. One of my concerns as writer and director was to represent the complexity of his inner life.” ?Tayfun Pirselimo?lu Riza is truck driver barely surviving on his route between Adana and Istanbul. His mortgaged truck is in for repairs, leaving him with nothing to do ? and no income. He lives in a shabby hotel populated by other equally desperate people hoping for a turn for the better. When Riza is driven to crime, he hopes for understanding from an old girlfriend that hates what he has become and resents the pain he caused her. The Istanbul of Riza is a far cry from the city one sees in tourist brochures: it is its more hopeless underbelly. Reminiscent of a Dostoevsky novel, Riza’s predicament precludes harsh judgment and demands empathy.