Admit One

Synopsis: An Italian man travels to Turkey to sell a property that he inherited from his aunt. When he gets there he finds that the property is a hamam, a traditional Turkish steam bath for men.

Technical Details

Title Hamam: The Turkish Bath Country Italy, Turkey, Spain Genre Drama Language Italian, Turkish Director Ferzan Ozpetek Cast Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d'Aloja, Carlo Cecchi Year 1997     My Rating More Info IMDB Buy Amazon

Review

When Francesco leaves Italy for Turkey his plans are to stay just a few days and return home, only the time necessary to sell the property he inherited from his aunt. Some complications with the sale force him to stay longer, and little by little he starts to feel attracted to the relaxed and laid down place. When he finds that the property he is about to sell is a run-down Hamam, a traditional steam bath place for men, he decides to cancel the sale and reopen the place. His unhappy wife Marta shows up one day on a surprise visit to tell him she is leaving him, but she will find that Francesco changed a lot.

The film does a good job at contrasting the busy life of the Italian couple with the simple, family oriented life style of Istanbul, but while the premise is attractive, it lacks in acting and technical values. This may be a good film for those who have interest in seeing other cultures, but those hoping to find a well developed story will not be satisfied.

©2008 by Miguel Grinberg

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