Can we now agree to disagree about meanings in......
To those of you who are here, reading reviews of this film, you'll find my particular review "method" involves listing some of the common reactions this film might produce in its viewers and, THEN, responding to them with my own comments (which follow the words: I WOULD HAVE TO SAY:). Perhaps you should also note that I am doing this after years of the film's residing in my DVD library and following time-to-time viewings. I'm not a 'newbie' to this film. So, here goes nothing.
In searching for the major theme(s) of this work, should you have found the film to be as much about wife Marta's awakening as it is about her husband, Francesco's (with his being healed and transformed by both Mehmet's love and his adoption of his Aunt's 'vision of life'); and should you see that Marta is, in fact, almost the central character since she basically becomes transformed into the reincarnation of Francesco's dead Aunt (whose letters set the whole plot in motion, transforming both her nephew's life and the lives of all around him), AND should you further feel that this is a film about the 'search for happiness'---that it's not about sex (while that physical act figures into his 'life-change', what Francesco was truly looking for was a loving and meaningful relationship), I WOULD HAVE TO SAY: I agree with all these themes concerning this visual art work, and there's only one other I could add----though this movie does concern an adulterous married couple, it is first and foremost about Finding Love, about Finding Peace, and about Healing. Also, folks, here's a Big Plus: If you will only carefully(!) watch this film, you'll find something almost magically atmospheric, something of an almost mystical aura which surrounds and arises from it.
From here on, the following provides comment on this film's lesser themes/plots:
Should you think it's clear the director meant the gay plot twist to be as much a 'surprise' to the audience as it was to the film's leading lady (because there was little hint of this change in the leading man's interests until a particular scene near film end involving persons in a steam room), I WOULD HAVE TO SAY: "Surprise" has nothing to do with it; all you have to do is watch the looks that Francesco, in time, comes to give Mehmet to know that something of a romantic/sexual nature is going to raise its head, as it certainly does. Likewise, should you pose the related question: if Francesco respects and loves this family so much, why is he having an affair with their son behind their backs, under their own roof, I WOULD HAVE TO SAY: It seems obvious to me that this Turkish family is well aware of their son, Mehmet's, 'sexual leaning' and they are comfortable with it. I also believe they've become 'wise' to the relationship between these two men---Francesco & Mehmet's close dinner seating arrangement and happiness with one another being only a couple of tip-offs.
Should you wonder how, since the story opens with Marta verbally trashing Francesco with malignant contempt and his responding with a blend of belligerence and frustration, we could arrive at film's end with a moment of caring between the two, I WOULD HAVE TO SAY: Marta (and we) have arrived at this point because Turkey has been "casting its spell" on her, as it did earlier on Francesco......and as it did years before that on F's Aunt. Marta's time in Turkey has brought her to the realization that: a Place, an Atmosphere, a Family and, more specifically a Son, have changed Francesco, making of him a happy and different man. This is something that she, as his wife, had never been able to do. And now, we begin to see Marta, herself, falling under many of these same influences.
Lastly, should the ending arrive and you feel that it's message was only one about the hopelessness and futility of gay life, that it's a style of behavior leading to gory death, I WOULD HAVE TO SAY: Isn't it possible you may have misinterpreted the basis for the death which occurs (other reviewers have already disclosed that death), one which may have had nothing to do with being gay? Rather might it not have had to do with 'murderous commerce'? Yes, perhaps many viewers fail to see the possibility that it was cold, uncaring commercialism and accumulation of wealth which were being shown to us as becoming too all-important in modern day life. For in an ancient civilization, such as Turkey's, these were new trends working in opposite ways from such older and gentler traditions as the Hamams. Can't you now possibly see that, for good reason, the director earlier gave us a scene between Francesco and a 'let-nothing-stand-in-her-way' Turkish business woman wanting to buy his Hamam (a woman who Francesco's realty agent warned him against, time and again, as being dangerous)? So, viewers, do you any longer wonder why the startling ending occurred and, perhaps, "whodunit"?
PS--All in all, while not amongst that top level of films containing a gay love theme, this work is nevertheless a worthy effort.
****
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VERSUS
Little Rock
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:16 pm Post subject: "STEAM (Hamam: The Turkish Bath)"
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"STEAM (Hamam, the Turkish Bath)"
Versus
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
If you ever been to a Hamam or Turkish bath (the real ones) then you know how much fun they can be. The movie "Steam" (Strand Releasing) shows the hamam as it is--no frills and the story that goes along with, is unlike the baths themselves, not much fun. But, hold on--this is a wonderful movie. It has a solid story, it has strong characters and it is subtle, superlatively so.
Francesco is a young Italian architect lives in Rome with his wife, another architect. Their relationship is troubled and he travels to Istanbul (the real star of this movie) to accept an inheritance which had been wiled to him. It turns out that the inheritance was a rundown steam bath which was closed. Francesco is convinced by members of his Turkish family to restore the hamam. Here the theme of the movie comes to light and that is how a contrast in cultures can foster understanding and change and as Francesco begins to investigate his options, he comes across a group of letters from his aunt to his mother and how his aunt matured when left to grow on her own terms in Turkey. It appears that the same will happen to Francesco. If I say any more about the plot I may spoil it for you but believe me when I say that this is a good movie, one of the best.
Istanbul emits eroticism and the music of the film adds to it. The movie is sensual and sexy and the movie is every bit a love affair with the city. While beginning the rebuilding of the hamam, pent up passions explode, especially same sex passions. Francesco realizes that he was not happy in Italy and something was missing in his life. In Istanbul, he found an inner peace and a family as well as pleasure and comfort in the arms and the affections of a Turkish male. What happens next will spoil the film for you so I shall not tell.
This is a film about the search for happiness--it is not about sex. Sex figures into the scheme of things but what Francesco was looking for was not just sex but a relationship that mattered. The conclusion of the film will jolt you; there is no way to be prepared for it.
The photography of the city of Istanbul is gorgeous and the actors rise high above the level of competency. The dark atmosphere of the film adds to a boding air of mystery and also adds beauty to the entire plot.. As old and new merge together and change occurs, the screen is alive with the beauty of being alive. East meets west, wealth meets poverty, greed meets tradition, love meets hate, and gay meets straight against a panorama of a city few of us have had the chance to really see.
This is one of those movies that be seen over and over again and the pleasure it gives is always renewable.
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Amos Lassen
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