Steam: The Turkish Bath
Taglines: What he inherited was a sexual awakening…
Hamam movie storyline. A stressed out couple, Marta (Francesca d’Aloja) and Francesco (Alessandro Gassman), living in Rome are running a successful interior decorating business. Francesco learns that his aunt, someone that he hardly knew because she lived for many years apart from his mother, has just died and left him her house in Turkey. He journeys to Istanbul to sell the property, and learns from his Turkish lawyer Zozo that the property has a hamam (Turkish steam bath) attached to it.
In the exotic confines of Istanbul passions that have been closed to the young man open up. Francesco feels the warm breeze and quickly settles into the slower pace of life and relishes the kindness of the Osman family, who ran the hamam for his aunt. Francesco’s aunt married a Turkish man and when he died she used the inherited money to become the first western woman in Turkey to operate a hamam, which by tradition is an exclusively male place.
Aunt Anita fell in love with the Turkish way of life, and fixed up the run-down hamam she bought in the center of town. Under her care it became respected as one of the best in the city. Occupying her house is: the kindly patriarch Mr. Osman (Ergun); his sensitive wife Perran (Sezer); their college-aged, very attractive and sweet daughter Fasun (Basak); and, her sensual brother Memo (Gunsur).
Hoping for a quick sale and an early return back to his thriving business, he runs into problems as he believes he can’t trust his lawyer whom he thinks is delaying the sale because he is trying to knock down the price for the potential buyer. To add further conflict the woman who wants to buy the hamam tells him she is buying up all the property in the neighborhood to build a trade center, and he impulsively decides not to sell. And even though he is told that the hamam is now out of fashion and the one he has inherited needs lots of repairs, Francesco decides to remain and restore it to its traditional beauty. He is also told that the woman he refused to sell to is very dangerous.
The family helps in the hamam renovations and they also get him acquainted with the delicacies of Turkisk food, which they serve him in generous portions. Meanwhile, Francesco tours the ancient city streets to absorb the city’s rich culture and reads his aunt’s old letters she sent to her sister that were returned unread, describing her appreciative love for such a filthy city like Istanbul. In one letter she tells his mother: “One can be happy in this life, Giuliana; one must.”
These sentiments have a deep emotional affect on Francesco. He realizes that he was not happy in Italy, as there was something missing in his life. Here he found an inner peace and a replacement family for his recently deceased parents. He also can’t get over the way Fusun looks at him in an admiring and loving way while Memo initiates him into the pleasures of the hamam, where he also finds comfort in his arms.
Unable to communicate with her gentle husband, Marta arrives in Istanbul to tell him about her new plans for a divorce — and of the affair she’s been having with their business associate Paolo for the last 2 years.
Hamam (Italian: Il bagno turco, also known as Steam: The Turkish Bath) is a 1997 Italian-Turkish-Spanish film directed by Ferzan Özpetek about the powerful transformations certain places can cause in people. It stars Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d’Aloja, Carlo Cecchi, Halil Ergün, Serif Sezer, Mehmet Günsür, Başak Köklükaya, Ludovica Modugno and Zerrin Arbaş.
Hamam – Steam: The Turkish Bath (1998)
Directed by: Ferzan Özpetek
Starring: Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d’Aloja, Carlo Cecchi, Halil Ergün, Serif Sezer, Mehmet Günsür, Başak Köklükaya, Ludovica Modugno, Zerrin Arbaş
Screenplay by: Ferzan Özpetek
Cinematography by: Pasquale Mari
Film Editing by: Mauro Bonanni
Costume Design by: Selda Çiçek, Metella Raboni
Art Direction by: Ziya Ulkenciler, Virginia Vianello
Music by: Pivio and Aldo De Scalzi
Distributed by: Strand Releasing
Release Date: November 28, 1998
Views: 138
