After Ferzan Ozpetek's Italian films (Saturno contro 2007, La finestra di fronte / Facing Window 2003, Le fate ignoranti / The Ignorant Fairies 2001 included) his new Turkish production ISTAMBUL KIRMIZISI / Crimson Istanbul fields elements from the director's earlier work - a gay theme, Serra Yilmaz in support.
This one is a strikingly handsome 'scope production that pushes the Istambul 's tourist attractions. It Kicks off with a great scenic airial of the city and we get balding middle aged author Halit Ergenç deposited at the red painted Boshorous-side home of fellow writer Nejat Isler who has brought him in to work on a project we never do get to know all that much about. This proves disorienting for Ergenç because he meets characters he thinks he recognises from Isler's published autobiography only to find them not as represented.
Then we get a development not too far away from L'AVENTURA and Ergenç, in the company of elegant Tuba Büyüküstün and the missing man's grubby gay lover Mehmet Günsür, is involved in a police inquiry where the lady cop tells him not to leave town.
Little by little Ergenç finds himself taking over Isler's life. We learn Ergenç's back story but can only guess why he was selected, what became of Isler or the significance of swimming the Bosphorous - Enigma, like the art movies.
The production does field effective scenes like the family meal where the relatives surprise the newcomer, Günsür's river front confrontation or the society party with the plunge neck singer who they manage to feature in all the publicity - another arresting airial shot pulls away from the high rise window there.
I like the Italian films better but this one does manage to hold the serious attention it's designed to attract. It's encouraging to find that Ozpetek is still at it.
This one is a strikingly handsome 'scope production that pushes the Istambul 's tourist attractions. It Kicks off with a great scenic airial of the city and we get balding middle aged author Halit Ergenç deposited at the red painted Boshorous-side home of fellow writer Nejat Isler who has brought him in to work on a project we never do get to know all that much about. This proves disorienting for Ergenç because he meets characters he thinks he recognises from Isler's published autobiography only to find them not as represented.
Then we get a development not too far away from L'AVENTURA and Ergenç, in the company of elegant Tuba Büyüküstün and the missing man's grubby gay lover Mehmet Günsür, is involved in a police inquiry where the lady cop tells him not to leave town.
Little by little Ergenç finds himself taking over Isler's life. We learn Ergenç's back story but can only guess why he was selected, what became of Isler or the significance of swimming the Bosphorous - Enigma, like the art movies.
The production does field effective scenes like the family meal where the relatives surprise the newcomer, Günsür's river front confrontation or the society party with the plunge neck singer who they manage to feature in all the publicity - another arresting airial shot pulls away from the high rise window there.
I like the Italian films better but this one does manage to hold the serious attention it's designed to attract. It's encouraging to find that Ozpetek is still at it.