a change in geography
Hamam,
Italian-Turkish Özpetek’s directorial debut, is not near as good as several of
his later films, but like most of his works, still has a great deal of charm.
Out of the blue, he receives word that his
“black sheep” aunt, who early in her life ran off to live Istanbul, has died,
leaving him her property. Against his inclination, he determines to travel to
Istanbul to quickly sell it off so that he can get back to work.
Arriving in the magical Turkish city,
Francesco soon finds that the potential buyer is lowering her bid, and that he
cannot immediately get rid of the property. Having a day or so to meander
through the city, he gradually discovers the city’s beauty.
An older man accosts him on the street, asking Francesco to help him to the
local hamam, a Turkish bath, so that he can get some water. Once there, he
invites the Italian to take a look about the place, recommending that he find
time to take advantage of the ancient luxury, slowly going out of style. Francesco is somewhat appalled by the reclining male bodies, but is
clearly fascinated nonetheless.

When he later visits the property that
his aunt has left him, he discovers an entire family living in the space,
people who worked and cared for his aunt, including an elderly husband and
wife, and their two children, Mehmet (Mehmet Günsür) and Fusan (Basak Köklüaya),
male and female, both of them beautiful and both casting longing glances toward
the handsome Francesco. The family, who apparently enjoy a harmony seldom seen
in American family life, insist that he eat with them, and show him his aunt’s room
containing her possessions, while also revealing that the building contains an
old haman, now closed, in which Mehmet had once worked. Fernando reads the
letters left by his aunt and sent, unread, to his own mother, explaining her
love of Istanbul and her reasons for remaining there: “Here, things flow more
slowly and soft."
Francesco is intrigued by her statements
and, when he discovers that the potential purchaser is also attempting to buy up
the entire neighborhood in order to build a huge trade center, he bulks at
selling, determining, with Mehmet’s help, to refurbish the steam bath to its
original glory. The lawyer who has worked to close the sale, warns him that his
decision is a mistake, that the potential buyer is “a dangerous woman,” but
Francesco is not dissuaded and, with Mehmet, begins the repairs. What is also
apparent through their stares is that he and Mehmet are developing a
relationship.
A call to Marta, explaining that he must
stay on for while longer in Istanbul, hardly fazes her, since it frees her to
continue her affair with Paolo. But a short while later, she flies to Istanbul,
in part to reveal her relationship and divorce Francesco. She too is welcomed into
the loving family, and is somehow affected by the food and the beauty of the
city. But, although the couple share a bed, there is no sexual contact, and,
one night observing that Francesco has left the room, she enters the haman to observe
Mehmet and Francesco in a deep embrace.
Marta, in turn, having discovered another
Francesco in Istanbul who did exist in Italy, has found she was newly love with
him, and willingly stays on in Istanbul to finish the project her husband had
begun, perhaps turning into another woman like Francesco’s aunt, who has found
a new world in which she feels at home.
Los Angeles, July
27, 2012
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