Director: Atif Yilmaz; Writer: D. Daniel Vujic, Safa Önal; Producer: Nusret Ikbal; Cinematographer: Gani Turanli; Editor: Isak Dilman; Cast: Sadri Alisik, Ayla Algan, Handan Adali, Diclehan Baban, Güngör Denizasan, Saadet Eliaçik, Lütfü Engin, Hakki Haktan, Ahmet Kostarika, Asim Nipton, Ugur Say, Ahmet Danyal Topatan, Muzaffer Yener, Ihsan Yüce, Bilge Zobu, Yusuf Çagatay, Feridun Çölgeçen, Erdal Özyagcilar
Duration: 01:22:25; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 195.071; Saturation: 0.004; Lightness: 0.301; Volume: 0.199; Cuts per Minute: 7.825; Words per Minute: 98.496
One of the most memorable films from the classical period of Turkish cinema, Oh Beautiful Istanbul starts with Haşmet’s lengthy conversation addressed to the camera. Played by the great Turkish actor, Sadri Alışık, Haşmet gives an elaborate yet unpretentious speech about the Ottoman past
of his family, the loss of their familly assets, and the details of his life as a broke, middle-aged bachelor. After leaving his favourite restaurant, he takes
a walk down the road in one of those old Istanbul neighbourhoods with his long trenchcoat, a hat and an umbrella, that establish him as a well-respected gentleman, although less and less fitting to the modern times. As Haşmet arrives at Beylerbeyi pier, the camera follows his gaze and gets absorbed in
the beautiful landscape of the Bosphorus. We see Haşmet peering at this landscape with an inner voice that recollects the long history of the city, aware that he is mimicking the past gazes of his forefathers and yet sighing with a pinch of nostalgia for ‘what is lost’. Atıf Yılmaz is aware of the illusion this sort of nostalgia might bring and breaks away from it by rousing Haşmet with a sudden sound of a sliding pathway of the ferry. As Haşmet ridicules himself for getting lost in his thoughts and merges with the crowd getting on the ferry, his incongruity with the changing cultural scape of Istanbul sets the tone of the film. The scene was shot in Beylerbeyi, an old Istanbul neighbourhood where the famous Beylerbeyi Palace is located. Oh Beautiful Istanbul sketches the
city (and everything it represents) as a composition that surfaces in between the East and the West and the old and the new, oppositions that have been repeated but not much questioned in Turkish cinema ✒Övgü Gökçe
turkishcine.ma requires JavaScript.
