 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
. |
Hamam
- The Turkish Bath
(1996) |
||||||||
|
. |
As the evening draws on a Filipino maid hums to herself setting a dinner table for two in a tasteful home. Rome is the backdrop - beautiful if slightly gloomy and distinctly chilly. A handsome couple freshen up for dinner, there is no sign of children, little warmth and no love. They talk work but each comment is a stab at the other. They are together and resigned but there is a part of both of them screaming to be rid of the other. It's clearly a marriage that has seen better times and resentment hangs thick in the air. Madame reminds the maid that a third will be joining them for dinner and the evening is spent bickering some more. Meanwhile a faxed letter arrives bearing the crescent and star of the Turkish republic. It appears that the husband Fransesco has inherited some property in Istanbul from an aunt who he hardly knew and though very reluctant, he drags himself over to Turkey to get things over and done with as soon as possible. His intention is to sell to the first half decent offer and he is well on his way to striking a bargain and getting the hell out of Turkey. However progress is bogged down by the slow way of life in these parts and he has to stick around a day or so longer then he had wanted. He discovers some of his aunts letters written to her sister (Fransesco's mother) where she explains how she has made a most amazing discovery that changed her life. She goes on to explain how Istanbul has got under her skin and she has grown to adore every breath that she takes within the city. She has found something in this city that she never expected to find, here or anywhere and now she can't tear herself away from it. One afternoon Fransesco is virtually forced by an eccentric local to visit the local Hamam where he finds himself strangely at ease amidst the bathing locals. Later Fransesco discovers that the property he inherited is in fact another old dilapidated bath-house or Hamam and immediately he feels differently about selling going back on his decision and the deal he was about to strike. The Hamam starts becoming an obsession and he moves in with the Turkish family who had been like a family to his aunt while she lived there. He finds the family's warmth and exuberance infectious - a world apart from the cold indifference he has to suffer at home. Istanbul starts to grow on him the same way it did with his Aunt and he finds himself feeling a new sense of liberty in this environment as well as some strange new desires. However he pays a heavy toll for his new found liberty and the love affair with Istanbul comes to a dramatic climax. This Turkish-Italian-Spanish production is a fine effort from debutant director Ferzan Oztepec, who spins a very human story about a man on the threshold of freedom. It's a curious film about a curious subject but is handled with a subtlety and restraint. It is not a film about sexuality but more about a contrast of cultures which includes the sexual element. The background music score is perhaps the most memorable feature of a film that more than anything is an ode to the soothing, healing warmth that Istanbul exudes and the hidden and sometimes dangerous attractions that lurk below its mysterious surface.
|
||||||||
