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).
