Home is Where the Steam Is
Review of Hamam (1997, Italian and Turkish with English subtitles; a/k/a Steam: The Turkish Bath)
"Go like the tide and come back like the tide," says a Turk to a visiting Italian in Istanbul. That's the tone of *Hamam*. Life is slow and easy in this crowded, ancient corner of Istanbul (not Constantinople), and presented as a pleasant alternative for the stressed out and skinny Westerners looking to unwind, get real, and live fuller lives.
Whether this is true or not of Turkey, this is the reality of *Hamam*. Francesco (Alessandro Gassman) inherits a building in the Turkish capital from an aunt he's never met. He leaves his shrill wife Marta (Francesca D'Aloja) back in Italy while he goes to wrap up his aunt's affairs. But he sure does take his time when he realizes three things. First, his property included a steam bath, a hamam. Second, he discovers that Zozo (Zozo Toledo), who is pressuring him to sell, is working for a woman who wants to tear down the whole area and build a conference center and office complex. Oh, third, he's gay. He figures this out when the son and daughter of his aunt's servants eye him pruriently, and the son (Mehmet Gunsar) wins. Shades of *Boudu Saved from Drowning*...
An interesting device is the narration of his aunt's letters to his mother, which were returned unopened. "One must be happy in life; one must," she tells her sister. They are estranged, but we never find out why. Like a prescient Auntie Mame, she sees ahead to the adult Francesco as someone with "eyes that see desires and strong arms to accomplish them." And that's what happens. Once in the bosom of his aunt's servants' family life, where he becomes one of them, he decides to restore the hamam to its former glory; it faded as the hamam's went out of vogue, probably due to indoor plumbing and increased Western influence. Francesco's restoration efforts are seen with a voiceover of the aunt's letter that details her own restoration of the building years earlier.
Because Italian moviegoers are treated to Intermission, the film had the "part one/part two" markers. This is interesting, as it delineates two distinct movements in the film: Istanbul's seduction of Francesco, and having to face the wife with his new life when she turns up after Francesco stays there a wee bit too long.
*Hamam* succeeds in its storytelling, accentuating the cultural differences with humor (the Italians are told constantly they are too skinny) and observation (women "share secrets" by yelling out the windows to each other; circumcisions are a public event, but the boys are about ten years old). The music is also very stirring, sweeping you up feverishly in what seems like an otherwise quiet lifestyle.
Pushed to gay audiences with a sexy poster of two towel-clad men facing away from the camera, very little sex, much less male pulchritude, is offered to us. Pushed to straight audiences with a photo of the couple, there is very little of them together until the second half.
Like *When the Cat's Away*, Hamam shows the small unsung joys of living in a metropolitan enclave facing "urban renewal" and changes in a way of life that doesn't need changing. And despite an appalling human rights record, life in *Hamam*'s Turkey looks mighty appealing.
Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek and original music by Aldo De Scalzi and Pivio.
More movie reviews by Seth Bookey, with graphics, can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html
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