IN-PERSON ISTANBUL HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

The paper examines how Western cinema has portrayed Istanbul from the 1960s to the present. Western films have framed the city as a liminal character, between East and West, between tradition and modernity and between past and present. At times, Western cinema has portrayed the city as an exoticized other, a place of mystery, sensuality, desire but also as a space full of danger. The ancient architecture of the city plays a central role in evoking danger, crowded spaces, narrow and dark streets, facilitate clandestine encounters, pursuit, and hiding. Unlike New York whose iconic landmarks, skyscrapers and iconic bridges, speak of technology and speed, where characters often feel isolated and alienated, Istanbul rarely conjures images of modernity and of progress. Instead, in Istanbul, Western protagonists experience a different type of isolation and of danger where the city’s architecture behaves as a watchful presence. In some western films, the city is the stage of a profound test for Western characters where their true nature is revealed, sometime even to themselves. While Istanbul has been the site of many Western films, the city is rarely given interiority. Turkish characters are non existent or marginal, the social and the contemporary cultural context of the city is missing. western films speak of and for Istanbul while city is denied a voice.