Creature, the mini-series written and directed by Çağan Irmak, was added to the Netflix catalog as of October 20. The mini-series, which reached 8,500,000 hours watched and 1,400,000 views with its performance last weekend, entered Netflix’s list of non-English original series in the top 10.
Inspired by British writer Mary Shelley’s classic work Frankenstein, which shaped horror and gothic literature, Creature is a work that Çağan Irmak has been working on for about 15 years. Produced by O3 Medya, the cast of the mini-series includes popular names such as Erkan Kolçak Köstendil, Taner Ölmez, Engin Benli, Şifanur Gül, Bülent Şakrak, Sema Çeyrekbaşı, Devrim Yakut, Şehsuvar Aktaş, Durul Bazan, Macit Koper, Ekremcan Arslandağ, Ümmü Putgül and Şennur Nogaylar.
The series, consisting of 8 episodes in total, presents an epic story that stretches from Bursa to Istanbul during the last periods of the Ottoman Empire.
Irmak manages to localize mythical elements
Episode’s editor in chief Orçun Onat Demiröz’s opinion on the series is as follows:
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the iconic novels of horror and gothic literature. Frankenstein is also considered one of the first works of science fiction and is one of the most exploited works in the history of cinema and TV, along with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This work, which has many mythological, philosophical and scientific implications, sets up an allegory similar to the fall of Adam, the first human created by God, from paradise. The “monster” created by Victor Frankenstein is Lucifer, the lord of hell.
Çağan Irmak manages to localize these mythical elements of Christian morality and the yeast takes hold. Localization is very important for the Netflix platform. It is also very difficult to turn such a world classic into a local content.
However, Irmak takes only the skeleton of the work and finds his own way. Especially the Ottoman atmosphere, the elements of mysticism and the underlying comedy make for an enjoyable series to watch.
Of course, Çağan Irmak’s decision not to use the melodrama codes that we are accustomed to in Creature, also stands out as a good decision.
In addition, the art direction in the series is quite interesting and casting is also quite successful.
