CHAPTER TWO

FROM ISTANBUL WITH LOVE:

THE NEW ORIENTALISM OF HOLLYWOOD

MURAT AKSER

It has been fifty years since the James Bond film From Russia with
Love chose Istanbul as its exotic location. There have now been more than
150 films that present Turkey and Turks as imagined by the West
(Scognamillo 2006). More than sixty years of participating in the Western
system of democracy, of having established a liberal market economy and
a functioning multi-party political system, the image of Turkey within
Hollywood is still “Eastern.” So, according to Hollywood, whose city is
Istanbul? What is “Eastern” in this image of Istanbul? It is a globalized
city, a city of spectacle reproduced endlessly in Orientalist literature. The
source of discourse of Orientalism can be found in the cities of the East
such as Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad and Tehran. These cities are currently
involved in a completely different day-to-day reality—they are the centres
of national and international political tensions, of bloody demonstrations
that enact changes in power that occur in a heartbeat and of the grim
reality of daily suicide bombings. Istanbul has a slower pace of life
compared to other Eastern cities (at least until the Gezi Park protests of
June 2013). The feeling of a flowing rhythm within a quiet, peaceful
atmosphere still remains in the city of Constantine. In this sense, Istanbul
becomes an ideal ground for Hollywood and other foreign action films, a
natural area of contrast with other Oriental cities, where the calm and slow
East is abruptly disturbed by Western interference. Classical Orientalism
produced its own discourse, and everything written and drawn is recycled
from previous material. The West irresistibly built an image of the East
that it wanted to see. Today, people all over the world do not share a
common frame of reference and a single source of information about the
East. The world now operates through a globalized flow of information,
capital and people and there are a multitude of sources for communication.
However, when classical methods of Orientalism are repeated, is it still
36 Chapter Two

possible to create the Eastern image through traditional methods by

forming the reproduction of the image of the Eastern in cinema? This
chapter will deal with these questions primarily from the perspective of the
last two films to take place in Istanbul: Skyfall and Taken 2.
With the advent of the twentieth century, the image of the city found a
new representation in cinema. The cinema had a way of shattering the
existing images and bringing them back together in montage form. As
Scott McQuire puts it: “filming the city in fragments creates a constructed
realism achieved via montage.” He further argues that “cinema is an
integral step in the formation of the media city, pointing towards an
emergent condition in which an expanded matrix of media feedback loops
increasingly shape the ambiance and intensities of urban space” (57). The
early examples of filming the cinematic city can be found at Walther
Ruttmann’s Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (1927) and Dziga Vertov’s
Man with a Movie Camera (1929). Busy city streets full of people and cars
in movement. Indeed, there is colour, movement, sound and speed in the
filmic representation of the city. The aim of the early filmmaker was to
present the symphonic city, rather than to simply show the views of the city
(Ibid., 59). It is this symphonic montage of the city’s speed that has
captured the imagination of Hollywood filmmakers, leading them to
present Istanbul as a slow Oriental city energized by the Western hero.

Istanbul Exoticism: A Pre-History

The Lumière Brothers and Pathé sent their camera operators to shoot
images of the imperial Oriental city as early as 1896.1 Ahmet Gürata and
Murray Pomerance state that film history’s first tracking shot was made in
two untitled films shot for the Lumière Brothers by their camera operator
Alexander Promio (Gürata 2011, 34; Pomerance 2013, 2). These shots
show an Eastern city—one of tranquility, of covered women, street
salesmen and coffeehouses. The slow Eastern life attributed to Istanbul
can be best observed in a painting by Osman Hamdi Bey titled “The Turtle
Trainer” (1906). Here, the Ottoman animal trainer is depicted instructing a
turtle, an animal known for its slow pace and longevity. The trainer’s
posture is servile, his clothing Eastern—a tunic complete with a turban. It
is this image of the Ottoman, the Eastern, the Oriental, that gives the idea
of the slowness of time and tranquillity to the Western imagination.

1
Screenings immediately followed film production in Istanbul as new research
into the early cinema in Turkey indicates. See Dilek Kaya Mutlu 2007, Balan 2008
and Çeliktemel-Thomel 2009.
 From Istanbul with Love: The New Orientalism of Hollywood 37

Fig. 2.1. “The Turtle Trainer” (1906) by Osman Hamdi Bey.

There have been Turkish filmmakers who have successfully depicted

the city in different decades as a dynamic place. In these films there is the
clean, neat and modern city of Istanbul (østanbul SokaklarÕ 1931; ùehvet
KurbanÕ 1940, d. Muhsin Ertu÷rul), with beautiful landscapes surrounding
the Bosphorus (YÕlmaz Ali 1940, d. Faruk Kenç). Mehmet Muhtar in 1950
(østanbul Geceleri), Lütfi Ö. Akad in 1952 (Kanun NamÕna) and Halit
38 Chapter Two

Refi÷ in 1964 (østanbul’un KÕzlarÕ) showed Istanbul slowly transforming

into a city of immigrants from the rural parts of Turkey.
Between 1958 to 1962, a flood of films showcase Sirkeci, Eminönü
and Ortaköy, all of which are near the sea and located in ancient and
historical areas of Istanbul. Films like AltÕn Kafes (d. Osman F. Seden,
1958), Üç Arkadaú (d. Memduh Ün, 1958), YalnÕzlar RÕhtÕmÕ (d. Lütfi
Akad, 1960) and ùöför Nebahat (d. Metin Erksan, 1960) allow us to travel
across the city to see the diversity of locations and lifestyles. The mahalle,
the small streets where people know each other and maintain a code of
honour that views neighbours as family, are displayed in a variety of films.
KÕrÕk Çanaklar (d. Memdun Ün, 1960), Üsküdar øskelesi (d. Suphi Kaner,
1960), Otobüs YolcularÕ (d. Ertem Göreç, 1961), Üç Tekerlekli Bisiklet,
AcÕ Hayat (d. Metin Eksan, 1962) and Külhan AúkÕ (d. Osman F. Seden,
1962) are some of the pre-1963 films that show very positive and
progressive images of Istanbul, and this city full of people, immigrants,
tourists and ordinary citizens has been depicted time and time again.2 Yet,
American films tend to portray the city as mysterious, exotic, Eastern,
sensual, filled with covered women, men with moustaches, with Arabic
music playing in the background and almost always with men wearing that
long-forgotten and forbidden piece of headwear, the fez.
The Rug Maker’s Daughter (d. Oscar Apfel, 1915) and The Virgin of
Stamboul (d. Tod Browning, 1920) are the earliest narrative feature films
by Westerners. These films, like others after them, use the basic plot of
rescuing a Western girl from Oriental brutes by a Western superhero. The
older Hollywood films did not shoot on location. Instead, they used
varying techniques, from the use of stock footage to rear projection.
Gürata (2011, 24) lists these films: Journey Into Fear (d. Norman Foster,
1943), Background to Danger (d. Raoul Walsh, 1943), The Mask of
Dimitrios (d. Jean Negulesco, 1944), 5 Fingers (d. Joseph L. Mankiewicz,
1952), Istanbul (d. Joseph Pevney, 1957) (KÕr 2010, 22) and You Can’t
Win ‘Em All (1970) (Özgüç 2011).
The James Bond film franchise twice chose Istanbul as a location
before Skyfall (d. Sam Mendes, 2012) with the films From Russia with

2
There are just too many films to list here, but some of the titles include Turist
Ömer (d. Hulki Saner, 1964), KaranlÕkta Uyananlar (d. Ertem Göreç, 1964),
Suçlular AramÕzda (d. Metin Erksan, 1964), Son Kuúlar (d. Erdo÷an TokatlÕ,
1965), Yasak Sokaklar (d. Feyzi Tuna, 1965), østanbul Tatili (d. Türker ønano÷lu,
1968), Beyo÷lu’nun Arka YakasÕ (d. ùerif Gören, 1986), 2 Süper Film Birden (d.
Murat ùeker, 2005) and Beyaz Melek (d. Mahsun KÕrmÕzÕgül, 2007). The city of
Istanbul is used so brilliantly that most Turkish blockbusters have made it their
habit to shoot in the city (Akser 2013).
 From Istanbul with Love: The New Orientalism of Hollywood 39

Love (d. Terence Young, 1963) and The World is Not Enough (d. Michael
Apted, 1999). The 1963 film, the second in the Bond series, introduced a
city where Turkish people were composed of Kerim Bey and gypsy
women. The featured location, the Hagia Sophia, was the ultimate
Christian stronghold in the Western imagination. James Bond’s presence
in the Oriental city of tranquillity disrupts the peace with the actions of
Western men.
This early Bond film presents the city from the viewpoint of a montage
of images. A ùiúli mansion stands in for the Russian Consulate and is
connected to the Grand Bazaar through the underground tunnels of the
Basilica Cistern. All three locations are kilometres apart geographically,
but a cinematic reality has been created for the viewers through montage.
McQuire states that this spatio-temporal malleability of film conflicts at a
fundamental level with the existing urban form (McQuire 2008, 62). This
cinematic approach will be repeated by many Hollywood films in
depicting Istanbul in the years to come.
Jules Dassin’s Topkapi (1964) added more mystery and an Eastern
diamond to the formula. Later to be used in the Mission Impossible series,
the famed shot of the robber being lowered in from the ceiling has been
carved into the minds of cinema audiences worldwide. It is a memorable
scene depicting the peace of the Oriental city, as represented by the
Sultan’s diamond, violated by the Western thieves. Similarly, Sidney
Lumet’s Murder on the Orient Express (1974) presented Istanbul as a
calm Eastern city disturbed by the actions of Western conspirators.
There have been occasional European films that have created fantasies
about Istanbul in a similar manner. Vampyros Lesbos (Jesús Franco, 1971)
presents Istanbul as an otherworldly dark space. Years later, Turkish
director Kutlu÷ Ataman returned to the Basilica Cistern to shoot another
horror film Serpent’s Tale (1994). The exception to the rule would be
Alain Robbe-Grillet’s L’Immortelle (1963). Shot as though viewed
through the eyes of the Europeans who entertain an Orientalist fantasy of
the city, Robbe-Grillet deconstructs this by turning his camera on it.
The Alan Parker directed and Oliver Stone scripted Midnight Express
created negative associations for Americans who would not visit the city
for many years because of the fear mongering it initiated. The film’s
depiction of prison scenes created outrage across the world (Kaya Mutlu
2005). Midnight Express has a chase scene in a crowded market, a
favourite place where American films tend to depict the whole city.
Recent international productions use Istanbul as a backdrop for
international conspiracy. The Accidental Spy (d. Teddy Chan, 2001) Fay
Grim (d. Hal Hartley, 2006), Mission Istaanbul (d. Apoorva Lakhia, 2008)
40 Chapter Two

and The International (d. Tom Tykwer, 2009) all have scenes shot at
standard locales, such as the Basilica Cistern, the Grand Bazaar and the
Blue Mosque.

Skyfall: Istanbul as a Montage City

In 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the first film adaptation of the
James Bond novels was celebrated. The producers Michael Wilson and
Barbara Broccoli chose Istanbul for the opening sequence of Skyfall, the
twenty-third instalment of the largely successful film franchise. The first
thirteen minutes of the two-hour film present all the basic Orientalist
biases towards the city.
The most important Orientalist approach to Istanbul is that it is a city
of ancient monuments and not of people inhabiting it. When there are
people they are bystanders to Western people. The images of women are
those of covered women. We catch a glimpse of the exotic Oriental
woman as a body to be covered, hidden, a place where secret and dark
desires reside.

Fig. 2.2. Bond brings darkness and intrigue to the city of tranquillity.

The Grand Bazaar is another location of envy and desire. In the

motorcycle chase scene, the villain is pursued by Bond (Daniel Craig) into
 From Istanbul with Love: The New Orientalism of Hollywood 41

the Grand Bazaar, where Bond and his adversary go through the roof and
then plunge into the narrow corridors of the ancient bazaar. The chase
takes only seconds, but gives enough of the Oriental look that has been
imagined for the city. Oriental (Arabian) music plays amid the chaos as
the men chase each other. The streets of Istanbul are presented to us after
Bond discovers his colleagues dead. The scene is in darkness, contrasted
by sepia (Oriental) tones. We, the audience, know that it is a place of
trickery and deception.
Another quality presented by Hollywood’s Orientalization of Istanbul
is its conversion from a slow-paced, quiet place into one of noise and
chaos by the Westerner. The jeep following Bond crashes into local
businesses during the motorcycle chase. The whole situation is observed
by unknowing “Eastern” people who look on passively. The passersby on
the vibrant and colourful streets of Sirkeci and Eminönü stand still to
observe the Westerners who chase through the narrow alleys and on to the
rooftop of the Grand Bazaar with the Blue Mosque in the background.
Turkish flags prominently displayed above the heads of the speeding
Westerners are indications that this place is indeed Turkey.

Fig. 2.3. The Westerner wreaks havoc on the quiet Eastern bazaar.
42 Chapter Two

The Western imagination that converts the tranquil Oriental space into
a place of action knows no limits, as it also creates false geographies. In
the train scene, we see one example of how Western film productions
create fake places so they can be whatever they want. Although there is a
train station near the opening chase in Skyfall, no such roads and
mountains exist in or near Istanbul. The train sequence is shot in Adana, a
southern Mediterranean city of Turkey. The Bond production team took
the train 1,000 miles away from Istanbul and yet linked the two locations
in the film through its narrative. This is no surprise, as during the very
same year the Academy Award winning film Argo (d. Ben Affleck, 2012)
used Istanbul to stand in for 1979 revolutionary Iran. As filming was not
possible in today’s anti-American Iran, Ben Affleck and company instead
chose Istanbul to portray Eastern tranquillity as well as the place that
would soon be in turmoil because of the appearance of disruptive Western
agents.

Taken 2: Speed as an Image of the West

In an American-French co-production, Istanbul is once again a city of
calm that is disturbed by Western intervention. Liam Neeson’s CIA agent
Bryan Mills had previously saved his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) from
trouble in Paris in the Pierre Morel directed 2008 film Taken. Written and
produced by Luc Besson, Taken 2 (d. Olivier Megaton, 2012) brings a
more positive approach to Istanbul as compared to Skyfall, but still
reproduces Orientalist clichés found in Hollywood films. This time a
Muslim Albanian human-trafficking ring decides to take revenge on
Bryan’s family and kidnap him and his wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) in
Istanbul, leaving their daughter Kim to find and rescue them.
In Taken 2 the Turkish flag imprints itself on the city giving it a more
national look. The mosques are dressed with flags, and they are seen in
streets, hanging on stores and other buildings. As with Skyfall, the
persistence of the Turkish flag can be interpreted as an overseas
Hollywood production trying to appease local authorities (Elmer 2005;
Behlil 2010). The display of the flag is supposed to stamp national pride
on the location which otherwise could be interpreted as an Oriental place.
The locations used similarly evoke the idea of tranquillity, an
Orientalist Istanbul staple, as in previous films. The Blue Mosque is
shown several times and the aerial shots of Galata Bridge are numerous.
The chat between Bryan and Kim takes place on a ferry that calmly
crosses the Bosphorus. Bryan drinks Turkish tea and talks of Europe and
Asia, of conquests and the importance of Istanbul to world history. Such
 From Istanbul with Love: The New Orientalism of Hollywood 43

dialogue seems to find its way into the screenplay through international
co-production agreements enforced by the Ministry of Tourism in Turkey.
During the trip, we see the Blue Mosque again and in colder, calming blue
tones when Westerners are shown.
The common historic locations used in the film try to evoke the
Oriental idea of Istanbul as a calm city where areas near Eminönü and the
Grand Bazaar appear prominently. The Westerner disrupts this tranquillity
with a rooftop chase when Kim is pursued by the Albanians. Here,
Oriental Istanbul is depicted with streets full of people and with all the
women wearing headscarves and moving slowly and quietly. In certain
scenes, women are dressed in burkas, covering their eyes, severing them
from the scrutiny of Western eyes. The closed body of the Eastern women
with veiled faces inspires the contrast of Western interference. While Kim
is waiting for her father, women in burkas scold her for not covering up,
disrupting the calm of the Eastern city. Other placid women of Istanbul are
shown as average and middle class, wearing no headscarves in the hotel
scene, which is shown to balance the biased approach. They similarly
appear with no voice except in scenes where they are in contact with Kim,
warning her that she is disrupting the Eastern order of calm.
Taken 2 shows Istanbul once again as a calm Eastern city where evil
Western men cruise the dirty, old, secret alleys for intrigue. Albanian
human traffickers are shown in sepia tones in alleyways in contrast to the
cold blue tone of the city. The colour Bryan is filmed in is also warm
sepia, at times close to red. He is the one most disruptive of Eastern peace
and quiet in the film. During a car chase, Bryan creates havoc while
driving a BMW. He crashes into vendors, and riders fall off their
motorbikes. During the car chase with the police, he even shoots a police
captain. The Bourne Ultimatum like chase ends at the American Embassy
in Istanbul, and Bryan’s final fight ends at a hammam (steam bath). The
Turkish hammam is the ultimate place of tranquillity presented in Western
Orientalist imagery, and this place is disrupted by two Westerners trying
to kill each other. From start to finish, Taken 2 recreates a quiet and
tranquil image of Istanbul as an Eastern city by contrasting the tranquil
people and spaces with action-filled scenes of Westerners fighting each
other.
44 Chapter Two

Fig. 2.4. The tranquillity of the mosque conflicts with the chase scene involving
Western men in Taken 2.

Conclusion
Gürata states:

… the clichés of how Istanbul is signified in cinema have not changed

much since the early travelogues. As a cosmopolitan city, Istanbul provides
a setting for a number of binary oppositions such as East-West,
communist-capitalist, Asian-American, and exotic-modern. (Gürata 2011,
25)

There have been studies of cinema and the city where cultural qualities
and norms are imposed by national cinemas (Brunsdon 2012; Göktürk,
Soysal & Türeli 2010). The bias towards Orientalism in Hollywood
persists today in the form of international co-productions that fake Istanbul
as a location for other places, or in some cases try to give a national
touristic view. These films reproduce the image of Eastern-Orientalist
Istanbul as a place of quiet tranquillity that is disturbed by Western action
men fighting each other. The calm places and people that are disturbed
when Western men chase each other in the dark alleys where intrigue lies
are persistent in Western filmic imagination (Burris 2008). Istanbul—a
city of covered women, dark-bearded men, the Grand Bazaar, the Blue
 From Istanbul with Love: The New Orientalism of Hollywood 45

Mosque and Galata Bridge—is disrupted by chaos introduced by Western

men. The old way of imagining Istanbul the city as a place of tranquillity
is now replaced by the presence of chaos-producing Western men to
disturb the peace. By doing that, by contrasting the action within this quiet
space, the West can represent the city that conquers its image as a bridge
between East and West.

Works Cited
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Turkey, ed. Eylem Atakav. London: Intellect.
Balan, Canan. 2008. “Wondrous Pictures in Istanbul.” In Early Cinema
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New Barnet, Herts: John Libbey Publishing.
Behlil, Melis. 2010. “Better Late than Never? The Role of Policy in the
Turkish Cinematic Revival.” Film International 8 (6): 21–29.
Brunsdon, Charlotte. 2012. “The Attractions of the Cinematic City.”
Screen 53 (3): 209–227.
Burris, Gregory A. 2008. “Sultans of the Silver Screen: The Turk in
Reactionary Cinema.” Journal of Popular Film and Television 35 (4):
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Çeliktemel-Thomen, Özde. 2009. The Curtain of Dreams: Early Cinema
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Elmer, Greg. 2005. Contracting out Hollywood: Runaway Productions
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Mutlu, Dilek Kaya. 2007. “The Russian Monument at Ayastefanos (San
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