"Көзі ашық" ("Kózі ashıq")

1992 film by Howard Franklin
the 1972 British film known in U. S. as The Public Eye

The Public Eye is a 1992 American crime thriller film produced by Sue Baden Powell and written and directed by Howard Franklin, starring Joe Pesci and Barbara Hershey. Stanley Tucci and Richard Schiff appear in supporting roles. The film is loosely based on New York Daily News photographer Arthur "Weegee" Fellig, and some of the photos in the film were taken by Fellig.

In the 1940s, Leon "Bernzy" Bernstein is a freelance crime and street photographer for the New York City tabloids, dedicated to his vivid and realistic work and his unique ability to capture shots that nobody else can. He is very confident of his skills, declaring at one point, "Nobody does what I do. Nobody". With a police radio under the dashboard of his car and a makeshift darkroom in his trunk, he quickly races to the scene of horrific crimes and accidents in order to snap exclusive photographs. He is so good at his job that he becomes known affectionately as the "Great Bernzini". Bernzy meets a sultry widow, Kay Levitz, who owns a fancy nightclub. It seems the mob is muscling in on her due to some arrangement with her late husband. Kay asks if Bernzy could investigate an individual she considers troublesome. Generally unsuccessful with women, Bernzy agrees to help Kay, and he slowly begins to fall in love with her. After talking to his contacts, including journalist friend Arthur Nabler, he tracks down Kay's man, only to find him murdered. But when he calls the police, he becomes a suspect in the man's death. The police and the FBI are also very interested in this case. Bernstein makes a connection with a local gangster, Sal, uncovering a conspiracy involving a mob turf war about illegal gas rationing, and the Federal government. His activities get Sal killed and place Bernzy's life in great danger as he waits in hiding at an Italian restaurant where a mob hit is about to take place.

Joe Pesci took this role right after his Oscar winning performance in Goodfellas. It was an attempt to capitalize on his popularity at the time and help elevate Pesci from respected character actor to star status. Director and writer Howard Franklin was unable to secure the rights to Arthur "Weegee" Fellig's story. Franklin, then, wrote the story of a Weegee like photographer who smokes cigars and he named him Leon "Bernzy" Bernstein. In the film, like Weegee, cops wonder if Bernzy uses a ouija board to snap his photographs and find the stories. According to journalist Doug Trapp, Franklin was inspired to write the screenplay after seeing a show of Fellig's photos in the 1980s at the International Center of Photography in New York City. And Weegee did, in real life, have a "soul mate" named Wilma Wilcox, who was the woman in charge of his estate. But, Franklin has always denied that the film was about their relationship. As the film is loosely modelled on Weegee, but the story is not, several photographers' pictures, along with some by Weegee, stand in for his work, including those of Lisette Model, Mickey Pallas, Wilbert H. Blanche, Irving Haberman, Ray Platnick, Roger Smith and Charles Steinheimer. Director Franklin says he was looking for "edgy, modern, high contrast 40's" lighting and compositions with the “stark, rather lurid effects of flash, which pick out the central subject while everything around falls off rapidly into darkness”

The Public Eye began filming on July 24, 1991 and completed October 28, 1991. Even though the film takes place in Manhattan, it was shot in Chicago, Illinois, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Los Angeles, California.

The original score for the film was written and recorded by Jerry Goldsmith, but he was replaced by Mark Isham at a late stage. As such, Isham had a lot of work to do and in a short time. He later noted that he found working with director Franklin a wonderful and educational experience. A motion picture original soundtrack was released on October 13, 1992 under the Varèse Sarabande label. The CD contained nineteen tracks in total, with one by Shorty Rogers. Mark Isham crafts a dark melody focusing on piano, string, and trumpet parts, while mixing in symphonic, jazz, and electronic music. While originally thought lost or incomplete, Jerry Goldsmith's original score was later released by Intrada Records in 2021. Goldsmith's score features 22 tracks and a run time of just over 40 minutes, proving its completion prior to the change.