La passione turca

This was the fourth film I've watched from Spanish director Aranda; as with THE NAKED EYE (1998), it's one of his more recent works - as opposed to vintage stuff like FATA MORGANA (1965) and THE BLOOD-SPATTERED BRIDE (1972; still his best film).

In essence, it's pretty similar to THE NAKED EYE - focusing as it does on an independent-minded woman's search for sexual fulfillment, which borders on obsession - though the details, obviously, are different; furthermore, this one has an added attraction in its exotic locale. The pace is appropriately languid, but the narrative is filled with enough ironic - if predictable - touches to keep one's interest throughout and, like Laura Morante in the later film, Ana Belen here delivers a committed central performance.

This film based on a Spanish best-seller is a wonderful, exotic drama, with too many distinctive elements to mention them all here. So, what's with the rating? The average rating is 7, but an actual rating of 5 is shown. If anything, someone with a personal grudge has stuffed the ballots against this crowd pleasing film. I first saw it here 5 years ago at our International Film Festival, where it played to a packed house, and was an audience favorite. The same acclaim in its native Spain and Latin America had preceded it. Otherwise, it would not have been chosen for our Festival, which features a small and careful selection of the best Hispanic Films not in general release in the US. Anyway, the movie has now been available on PAL video for years, and is one of the most memorable romantic dramas you will ever see, with several unique touches, you are unlikely to forget. The novel use of two endings by the director is one of them. The movie ends with a more popular (with test audiences) ending, different from the novel. The director then shows us again the last scene, ending the film as the novel ended. This gives audience a choice of endings, and makes you think about how original material is frequently altered in films, to make them more commercial. This additional food for thought is the last stroke of genius the director offers us. Don't miss it.

There is some merit in setting up a troubled character, whose drab life and misfortunate marriage are made self evident to her when she meets the closest thing to a stereotypical stallion on a trip to Istanbul, but, apart from rare and not too well used embryonic ideas, this movie fails to deliver in a most disappointing way.

It could have been a lot better, had the dialogues been made more credible, had the protagonist's "madness" been depicted with more undertones and a lot more finesse. I am sorry I spent a good part of an evening on it. Characters do not go any further than superficial and - I am afraid - stereotypical. Situations always seem a little bit beyond my willingness to suspend my disbelief, turning this movie into what I consider a serious flop.

Hope others saw more in it than I did, because I really saw very little merit in the efforts profused to make a potentially interesting Spanish/Turkish romance into film.

If on the one hand Antonio Gala can be considered one of the best writers of real literature in Spain today, and is also one of the leading connoisseurs of Islamic history and culture, and on the other José Luis Alcaine is one of our best directors of photography and José Nieto one of the best composers for TV and films, and we add to all this that Ana Belén is not at all a bad actress as well as being a very accomplished singer, either alone or with her husband Víctor Manuel, one could say that this film was destined to be memorable.

However, Vicente Aranda, who may be considered one of our most representative film directors today, just does not hit it off with this film. I think mostly because somewhere along the line in transition from being a literary novel of subtle poeticness to being a somewhat crudely and hurriedly concocted passionate love affair in seething sithering Istanbul, especially laid on for Spanish tourists judging by the San Miguel beer spread out on the street-side café, quite a lot of deliberate delicacy got lost.

The result being a rather top-heavy show of macho bravura unbefitting intelligent women in today's modern Spain – or anywhere else in Europe. The overbearing macho tendencies attributable to Islamics just does not fit in: the film becomes 'trasnochada' even before it starts.

I have seen this film about three times, unfortunately: and each time I like it less. Maybe it is because I suffer from acute manias with everything associated with Islamic mentality. Perhaps. I will not argue that: and of course accept that all manias are rather silly, especially including my own. But the fact remains that I was not brought up believing that women were like cattle and thus to be treated similarly. And that is what purportedly this film is bent on showing. Definitely one of Ana Belén's more important roles, but I am afraid that in this film things go dreadfully awry.

Good movie. Not superb, but decent.

The movie uses a lot cliché. Orientalism hard core, the mental image of Turkey heavily used. No body want to see an another European country, like a modern factory made car, almost identical to each other. People want to see these differences, taste it, fell it and live it. So the director took us the travel to unknown, different and a bit forbidden places. In our inner world of feelings and literally.

She consume forbidden apple (desires) and became of slave of her desires and lost, than completely destroy herself and her ego. And Turkish man start exploit that love she fall in. She is going some kind of hell, with eating that exotic apple. In my life, I saw similar stories. My gal friends fall in toxic love and be miserable later on. So it happens.

The movie show us the phases of love, eventually it reach to sexploitation levels.

If you are interested Turkish culture, and visit Turkey, you will experience belly dance, food, carpets history etc etc. And the movie provide these background images. More less, you will experience same things.

Reality slightly different. Turkey is not that orientalist. It is a bridge country, it connects east and west, so you find very very western characters but also eastern. It is a mixed culture. Turkish girls will not even talk with that Yaman character. He is kind of repulsive (even for 80s-90s standards-maybe for 70s standards he is ok, I dunno). The streets, housing, environment possibly could be exist in limited old city. Like Venice, canals there for tourists and there is modern city beside. Anyway, who cares reality? People see only what they want to see.

Good man is better than gold (and harder to find). Turkish or Japanese or Mexican etc. You find a good loving man, keep it. My partner still keeping me for 15 years. I must be a good man but I am not. I am an A$$whole like Denis Leary says. The poor woman does not know, she is delusional like Desi. Shhh do not wake her up.. So the movie is a fantasy, cliché a bit soap opera but nice to watch (especially at emotional perspective).