jandlwatts

Istanbul has been at the crossroads of humanity since the human story began. However, this is not a story about Istanbul. Neither Istanbul's history, nor its beauty, nor its complexities are addressed in this series, but they are always there, always pressing against the lens. Istanbul is the backdrop for a well acted, well told tale of two women struggling to define themselves in a city that has witnessed entire civilizations come and go, a city of ancient lore and modern rhythms, and like most huge cities, a place of abundant indifference.

This is the story of a young, bright eyed Zehra, off to the big city to start her life. Zehra quickly takes refuge with Nesrin, the estranged cousin, and once best friend of Zehra's mother. Nesrin, who came to this city as a young girl herself, is now a middle aged doctor, hardened by her time here, and desperate to escape.

The title of this movie is taken from "Istanbul Encyclopedia", an incomplete guidebook that was first published in 1944. It is a guidebook that our young protagonist Zehra is using to learn about her new environment. It is through select points of interest in this book that Zehra tells us what she learns from her experience in Istanbul.

Both my wife and I enjoyed this series very much, partly because we have been to Istanbul and fell in love with it, but mostly because this series was well made. The casting of actors were excellent choices, and those actors did an excellent job of bringing their characters to life and making them believable. The direction, the cinematography, and the writing were also very well done. Our only disappointment was that it didn't show off more of that magnificent city. But, Istanbul is always there, always leaning in.

This series was well written, well acted, and well directed. It is good story telling and held our interest all the way through. However, there is one casting decision that we found noticeable and particularly annoying. During casting, the script writers deliberately decided to change actors for one of the main characters in the final episode. Their reasoning was to keep viewers confused. They were certainly over thinking the process. They wrote a good script. Changing actors was a bad decision. Both my wife and I found this change of actors to be an unwarranted distraction. However, they did succeed in confusing us (if not for the reason they intended). Other than that, we enjoyed this series.

Painfully sophomoric writing and directing - this is a thirty minute monotone recitation of Hollywood cliches from almost every cop show and movie of the 1970s/80s stretched out for a mind numbing 159 minutes. Add in some thankfully brief, but graphic gratuitous violence, and two well known actors, and that's a wrap.

I can't imagine why Lionsgate didn't insist on an edited version. As for Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn, what a waste of great talent. Hiring popular and respected actors cannot make up for bad writing and worse directing. Shame on the Lionsgate executives that gave their okee dokee to release this dog.