Istanbul

Overview

All of Pialat's Turkish films are uniquely interested in the country — especially Istanbul — as it was, not just as it is at the precise moment that Pialat is filming it. History informs these films in a big way, with the voiceover narration (which incorporates excerpts from various authors) introducing tension between the images of the modern-day city and the descriptions of incidents from its long and rich history. Istanbul is probably the most conventional documentary of Pialat's Turkish series, providing a general profile of the titular city, its different neighborhoods, and the different cultures and ways of living that coexist within its sprawling borders. As the other films in the series also suggest, Pialat sees Turkey, and Istanbul in particular, as a junction point between Europe and the East, between the old and the new, between history and modernity.

Details

Status

Released

Release date

January 1, 1964

Original language

French

Spoken languages

French

Countries

France

Production

Como Film

Cast

Pierre Asso

Director

Maurice Pialat

Producer

Samy Halfon

Cinematography

Willy Kurant

Budget

Not recorded

Revenue

Not recorded

IMDb

tt0422504