Crossing Istanbul

This is the best movie I have seen lately. It is perfect in every way. For me, the acting and the story-building is great. The story is simple, yet it is a complex movie with many layers. On the foreground, there are lots of events and characters. On the background, the charming Istanbul, yet expressed very subtly. Most of the story takes place in the backstreets of the Beyoglu district, where hard lives are intertwined with human warmth and friendships. Underneath it all, is a layer with all kinds of emotions that grip you from the beginning of the movie until the end. And all those emotions stay with you long after the movie. Please go and see it!

Director Levan Akim has done it again. Made a very memorable film. And educational. The previous And Then We Danced took place in Georgia. Here the action takes place in the world metropolis Istanbul.

Like his previous film, Akim again addresses issues related to minorities, in this case trans women. Again, he manages to teach me at least a lot about what it is like to live as a trans woman in a challenging environment. But like in the previous film, this one is also full of charm and warmth. So it is not a black and sad film that we are watching. Here there is warmth and courage among those we follow along the way.

I see such clear parallels to the previous film, which was about a young gay dancer who was ostracized from his environment in Georgia. Here there is a touching story about a family member who is looking for a dear niece who was once just asked by her loved ones to leave, because of who she is. We read in the face of the aunt who is searching that she wants a reunion and that feelings about the loss of relationships are a hard burden to bear.

In the search for the niece, we encounter an incredible number of fascinating destinies in the metropolis of Istanbul. As I understand it, most of the characters in this film are newcomers and have little or no acting experience. What director Akim has managed to get them to perform is astonishing and eye-catching. Here, everyone delivers, and is believable and convincing.

And I also want to add, I love the scenes from Istanbul. Amazing city.

This film deserves a large audience.

I look forward to the next film from this incredibly fascinating director.

There's something entirely plausible about the performance from Mzia Arabuli in this poignant drama. She is the retired school teacher "Lia" who is determined to track down her niece now that her sister has recently died. She lives in Georgia, likes a drink or two, and thinks that "Tekla" has fled to neighbouring Turkey where she is able to live her life more freely. She is trans - and that's not a situation encouraged at home! "Lia" hasn't a word of Turkish, though, so she agrees to take local wide boy "Achi" (Lucas Kankava) with her as a sort of guide-cum-translator. The seedier side of Istanbul beckons for both of them, but what chance of tracking down one person in a city of millions? Fortunately, the young man can't sleep one night and goes out to explore. He makes some new friends and these friends lead them to newly qualified lawyer "Evrim" (Deniz Dumanli) who promises to try to help... Now it would have been very easy for auteur Levan Akin to do this the A+B=C way, but he doesn't. He doesn't make the film about the search for "Tekla" so much as about a search by this woman to find herself, to reignite her sense of purpose and to to put into perspective issues that drive families apart leaving everyone bereft of affection and understanding. It's that role that Arabuli plays with an honesty that really works. There's an almost maternal chemistry between her and the young "Achi" and as they search, we see a city that really is a potpourri of just about every aspect of humanity - some friendly, so less so. I found this to be quite an effective film about live-and-let-live in a city where poverty and wealth exist side by side and where there appears to be a largely prevailing degree of tolerance and, to an extent, generosity of spirit. It's hopeful but not unrealistic, and proof that there's plenty of life in the old girl yet!

There are many crossings or cross-overs here - crossing borders, countries, families, communities, societies, mentalities, genders, sexes. It is a brilliant title.

And Lia is an amazing woman with many layers that are slowly peeled off, to her surprise as well sometimes. She does most of the crossing here and it is beautiful. She emerges at the end as the wisewoman of her village, her region, her community and a mother figure to both Achi, the young boy left behind as a child by his mother and Tekla, the niece she had neglected long ago, when she still cared about appearances and people's judgements.

This is how you make an honest movie about a very sensitive topic in a highly conservative and patriarchal society that can actually reach some people who may be undecided on the issue. It shows us things as they are, raw, awkward, funny, uncomfortable, weird, warm, heartbreaking, but maybe most of all believable and to some extent even relatable. You can relate to Achi, who clings to Lia, but is also just a teenager who needs to eat, drink and have fun without thinking about the consequences, Evrim who wants to help people who can't help themselves or are self-destructive for whatever reason, but Evrim also needs somebody to love her and help her, and Lia who is a retired aunt, respected in her small community, but has just realized she is all alone and her only remaining relative is a child she has failed to protect and care for.

And despite all the worries, mishaps and trouble they run into in the big city of Istanbul, there is always a party around the corner to ease your sorrows or somebody to help you out. There is a great deal of warmth in this movie with quite a few bleak moments. And I was ready to embrace that Deus ex Machina ending, only it was too good to be true and my heart broke for Tekla.

Again, this is how you make a movie without pushing an agenda down people's throat. With real people and real reactions and real dialogue.

I really liked how the title explains perfectly what this film is about. It's about people who crosses to a different country, whose own lives crosses with characters that are nothing like them, and finally about people who are crossing genders on a quest to find themselves. The acting was superb, specially Evrim's character played by Deniz Dumanli. All the characters are complex and extremely interesting and I really loved how the movie has a slight twist making you expect one thing and delivering another. Istanbul depiction was beautiful but not in a postcard touristy way and it really showed the vibe of this huge, exotic, amazing city. What I liked the most was the connections that we could see forming between people who are unlikely to be hanging out. The music and cinematograpghy were also both very good. I strongly recommend this movie to any film lover.