La pasión turca

This was the fourth film I've watched from Spanish director Aranda; as with THE NAKED EYE (1998), it's one of his more recent works - as opposed to vintage stuff like FATA MORGANA (1965) and THE BLOOD-SPATTERED BRIDE (1972; still his best film).

In essence, it's pretty similar to THE NAKED EYE - focusing as it does on an independent-minded woman's search for sexual fulfillment, which borders on obsession - though the details, obviously, are different; furthermore, this one has an added attraction in its exotic locale. The pace is appropriately languid, but the narrative is filled with enough ironic - if predictable - touches to keep one's interest throughout and, like Laura Morante in the later film, Ana Belen here delivers a committed central performance.

Vicente Aranda show us another example of his bizarre "obssexions", this time based in a novel of Antonio Gala. The story of a wild exotic macho who drives a tourist into a self destructive circle of violence, prostitution and sodomy. Ana Belen shows her mature beauty and is gorgeous in this film but is not the best actress for the character, a woman who finds a gigantic phallus attached to a rough man in a trip to Turkey. Georges Corraface is bad as usually, I do not understand why this man can earn money acting, he is the worst turkish actor I have ever seen. The film has some disgusting scenes like the bullet-in-the-balls one or the bus sex, a bad example of dirty and unconfortable sex, but what is really annoying is the fact that the romeo is the typical macho rejected by all modern women. Some supporting actors are laxative like Francis Lorenzo. Despite Ana Belen´s anatomy the film is bad, very, very, bad. I warn you.

Good movie. Not superb, but decent.

The movie uses a lot cliché. Orientalism hard core, the mental image of Turkey heavily used. No body want to see an another European country, like a modern factory made car, almost identical to each other. People want to see these differences, taste it, fell it and live it. So the director took us the travel to unknown, different and a bit forbidden places. In our inner world of feelings and literally.

She consume forbidden apple (desires) and became of slave of her desires and lost, than completely destroy herself and her ego. And Turkish man start exploit that love she fall in. She is going some kind of hell, with eating that exotic apple. In my life, I saw similar stories. My gal friends fall in toxic love and be miserable later on. So it happens.

The movie show us the phases of love, eventually it reach to sexploitation levels.

If you are interested Turkish culture, and visit Turkey, you will experience belly dance, food, carpets history etc etc. And the movie provide these background images. More less, you will experience same things.

Reality slightly different. Turkey is not that orientalist. It is a bridge country, it connects east and west, so you find very very western characters but also eastern. It is a mixed culture. Turkish girls will not even talk with that Yaman character. He is kind of repulsive (even for 80s-90s standards-maybe for 70s standards he is ok, I dunno). The streets, housing, environment possibly could be exist in limited old city. Like Venice, canals there for tourists and there is modern city beside. Anyway, who cares reality? People see only what they want to see.

Good man is better than gold (and harder to find). Turkish or Japanese or Mexican etc. You find a good loving man, keep it. My partner still keeping me for 15 years. I must be a good man but I am not. I am an A$$whole like Denis Leary says. The poor woman does not know, she is delusional like Desi. Shhh do not wake her up.. So the movie is a fantasy, cliché a bit soap opera but nice to watch (especially at emotional perspective).

Ana Belen gives a tour-de-force performance as Desideria, a woman who is fulfilling her societal obligations by marrying her college sweetheart and living the perfect life in the eyes of her friends but it is her sexual urges that are not being fulfilled until on a trip to Turkey she meets YAMAN....Georges Corraface fills this character with seething sensuality and dangerous passion.....he takes her forcefully and this is what she craved.To be desired,to be ravaged....to feel alive. She leaves her husband and returns to live a life with Yaman...from his reaction you get the impression he seduces many women,and always hears their vows of returning to him.Desideria has and now she is in a land where she does not speak the language.GREAT FILM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This film based on a Spanish best-seller is a wonderful, exotic drama, with too many distinctive elements to mention them all here. So, what's with the rating? The average rating is 7, but an actual rating of 5 is shown. If anything, someone with a personal grudge has stuffed the ballots against this crowd pleasing film. I first saw it here 5 years ago at our International Film Festival, where it played to a packed house, and was an audience favorite. The same acclaim in its native Spain and Latin America had preceded it. Otherwise, it would not have been chosen for our Festival, which features a small and careful selection of the best Hispanic Films not in general release in the US. Anyway, the movie has now been available on PAL video for years, and is one of the most memorable romantic dramas you will ever see, with several unique touches, you are unlikely to forget. The novel use of two endings by the director is one of them. The movie ends with a more popular (with test audiences) ending, different from the novel. The director then shows us again the last scene, ending the film as the novel ended. This gives audience a choice of endings, and makes you think about how original material is frequently altered in films, to make them more commercial. This additional food for thought is the last stroke of genius the director offers us. Don't miss it.