Istanbul Guide

205

Travel Writing

Historical novels set here include The Rage of the Vulture (Barry Un sworth; 1982), The Stone Woman (Tariq Ali; 2001), The Calligrapher’s Night (Yasmine Ghata; 2006) and The Dark Angel (Mika Waltari; 1952). Young readers will enjoy The Oracle of Stamboul (Michael David Lukas; 2011). Although best known as award-winning author Orhan Pamuk’s English translator and as the daughter of American author John Free ly, Maureen Freely is also a writer of fiction. Two of her best-known novels, The Life of the Party (1986) and Sailing Through Byzantium (2013), are semi-autobiographical tales set in İstanbul. Alan Drew’s 2008 novel Gardens of Water follows the lives of two families in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck western Turkey (including İstanbul’s outskirts) in 1999. Joseph Kanon’s 2012 thriller Istanbul Passage is set just after the end of WWII, when espionage is rife and Mossad is attempting to illegally transport Jewish refugees through the city en route to Palestine. Cinema Turks are committed cinema-goers and the local industry continues to go from strength to strength. Local directors, many of whom are based in İstanbul, are now fixtures on the international festival circuit. Local Stories Oddly enough, few masterpieces of Turkish cinema have been set in İstanbul. Acclaimed directors including Metin Erksan, Yılmaz Güney and Erdan Kıral tended to set the social-realist films they made in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s in the villages of central or eastern Anatolia. This started to change in the 1990s, when many critical and popu lar hits were set in the city. Notable among these were the films of Zeki Demirkubuz, Omer Kavur, Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Mustafa Altıoklar and Yavuz Turgul. Contemporary directors of note include Ferzan Özpetek, who has a growing number of Turkish-Italian co-productions to his credit. His 1996 film Hamam, set in İstanbul, was a big hit on the international festival circuit and is particularly noteworthy for addressing the hith erto hidden issue of homosexuality in Turkish society. The issue of discrimination against Kurdish members of the com munity is investigated in Yeşim Ustaoğlu’s powerful 1999 film Journey to the Sun, which is set in the city. Yavuz Turgul’s 2005 film Lovelorn is the story of idealist Nazim, who returns home to İstanbul after teaching for 15 years in a remote village in eastern Turkey and starts a doomed relationship with a sin gle mother who works in a sleazy bar. It’s particularly notable for the soundtrack by Tamer Çıray, which features the voice of Aynur Doğan. Kutluğ Ataman’s 2005 film 2 Girls and Reha Erdem’s 2008 film My Only Sunshine are both dramas in which the city provides an evocative backdrop. Turkish-German director Fatih Akın received a screenwriting prize at Cannes for his 2007 film The Edge of Heaven, parts of which are set in İstanbul. His 2005 documentary about the İstanbul music scene – Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul – was instrumental in rais ing the Turkish music industry’s profile internationally. Erdem Tepegöz’ bleakly realistic 2013 film Zerre ( Particle ) follows single working woman Zeynep as she searches for a job to support her mother and disabled daughter. The film was shot in Tarlabaşı, near Beyoğlu.

Constantinople (Edmondo De Amici; 1878) Constantinople in 1890 (Pierre Loti; 1892) The Innocents Abroad (Mark Twain; 1869) The Turkish Embassy Letters (Lady Mary Wortley Montagu; 1837)

İstanbul on Page & Screen Cinema