Top 10 Movies Set in Istanbul

Top 10 Movies Set in Istanbul

four reel films lying on white table by Denise Jans – Unsplash

The city of Istanbul has been an attraction point for almost everyone, like travelers, tourists, novelists, artists and journalists for decades. Since Istanbul has a unique taste of the East and the West, it has been a central location in orientalist storytelling. Therefore, this giant city has been a stage in many novels and movies.

In this article, we will talk about “Top 10 movies that were set in Istanbul”. As you will see, Istanbul has been a set mostly for espionage movies, due to its deep history, conflicting cultural elements and complicated political features. Some successful romantic movies were also set in Istanbul thanks to the city’s unique emotional atmosphere. We hope this article will be entertaining both for Istanbul lovers and moviegoers.

1) From Russia with Love: My name is Bond, James Bond!

Sean Connery by Rob Mieremet (Nationaal Archief) – Wikimedia Commons

Among all the espionage movies set in Istanbul, “From Russia with Love” is probably the most famous one. This second James Bond movie of the Bond series presents Sean Connery as the charming British spy 007 for the second time in a row.

In this movie, we see James Bond heading to Istanbul for a secret mission. Bond’s mission is to retrieve a Soviet-made decoding device called “Lektor” before the evil organization SPECTRE gets it. In Istanbul, Bond meets and cooperates with beautiful Russian agent Tatiana Romanova. As Bond and Tatiana fall for each other, our hero realizes that all this mission is actually a plot to trick him to come to Istanbul and kill him in an insidious trap.

In this 1 hour 55-minute-long movie, we witness the love affair of Bond and Romanova as they try to get away from the traps of evil SPECTRE with beautiful scenes of Istanbul passing in the background.

Director: Terence Young

Cast: Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Robert Shaw, Bernard Lee

Release year: 1963

2) Topkapi: Stealing diamonds long before Ocean’s Eleven

“Topkapi” is the most humorous movie in our list of “Top 10 movies that were set in Istanbul”. Shot by Director Jules Dassin in 1964, Topkapi tells the story of a group of international bandits who plan to secretly enter the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul and steal the jeweled dagger of Ottoman Sultan Mahmood I. This team of thieves come together under the lead of Elizabeth Lipp (played by Melina Mercouri) and her former lover Walter Harper (played by Maximilian Schell) to make the robbery of their lives.  On the other hand, Turkish police suspects of this group and begins to follow them, making life harder for the bandits.

This 2-hours long movie is full of scenes from the historical places of Istanbul, mainly the Topkapi Palace and Gülhane Park. Especially the scenes shot in the Palace perfectly reveals the beautiful artifacts and jewelry of the Ottoman dynasty.

Director: Jules Dassin

Cast: Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell, Peter Ustinov

Release year: 1964

3) 5 Fingers: A spy movie based on a true story

“5 Fingers” is a high-quality espionage movie set in Istanbul and Ankara during the days of World War II. In this movie, directed by filmmaker Joseph L. Mankiewicz, we witness the stirring story of Ulysses Diello (a.k.a. Cicero) who is the valet of the British ambassador in Ankara. Ulysses Diello envies to the wealthy lives of diplomats he sees every day and decides to promote his status by selling the secret documents of the British ambassador to the Nazi Administration.

Ulysses’s adventures are based on a real person named Elyasa Bazna, who worked at the British Embassy during the most heated days of the World War II. “5 Fingers” tells the story of this interesting figure by putting Istanbul and Ankara in the background as a stage for the battle of intelligence agencies.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Cast: James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie

Release year: 1952

4) The Accidental Spy: Jackie Chan breaking bones in Istanbul

“The Accidental Spy” is the only Hong Kong movie in our list of “Top 10 movies that were set in Istanbul”. Even though the title and the poster of “The Accidental Spy” present itself as a fun action movie, it actually is not a movie with comedic elements. This fast and action-packed movie tells the story of a Korean man who had a mysterious inheritance from his long-lost father. Our main character Buck Yuen (played by Jackie Chan), goes to Istanbul in search of his father’s secret inheritance and finds himself in a battle between drug lords and intelligence services.

“The Accidental Spy” is set mostly in historical parts of Istanbul like the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahçe Palace, Gülhane Park and city walls of the old Byzantium Empire, revealing some of the most beautiful places of Istanbul. By the way, even though Accidental Spy has most of the elements in a typical Jackie Chan movie, it didn’t do well in the box office and was harshly criticized by the movie critics when it was released worldwide in 2001.

Director: Teddy Chan

Cast: Jackie Chan, Eric Tsang, Vivian Hsu

Release year: 2001

5) Hamam (The Turkish Bath): A controversial love story in Istanbul

Hamam (The Turkish Bath) tells the love story of an Italian man, who comes to Istanbul to see the Turkish bath he inherited from his deceased aunt and begins to explore the new dimensions of his sexuality.

Francesco, a designer living in Rome, comes to Istanbul to see the historical Turkish bath his aunt Anita left him. Francesco first thinks to sell this place. But as he begins to explore the city and different aspects of life here, he changes his mind and decides to renovate this old Turkish bath. During this time, he begins to feel a sexual attraction to a local man, and they start to have an affair.

Hamam had created a lot of controversy in Turkey when it was screened at movie theatres in 1997. Some Turkish bath owners criticized the movie for “mispresenting the Turkish bath culture”. Conservative groups also slammed the director for “glorifying homosexuality” and “giving a wrong impression about traditional values”. However, Hamam earned great success at the box office, both in Turkey and in Europe. Moreover, it brought a huge fame to its Turkish/Italian director Ferzan Özpetek by winning several awards at events like Istanbul International Film Festival, Italian Golden Globes, Antalya International Film Festival and Mar Del Plata Film Festival in Argentina.

Director: Ferzan Özpetek

Cast: Alessandro Gassmann, Francesca d’Aloja, Mehmet Günsür

Release year: 1997

6) Taken 2: Liam Neeson saving his family… Again!

Liam Neeson by Georges Biard – Wikimedia Commons

In this full-throttle action movie, retired CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) invites his daughter and his ex-wife to Istanbul to enjoy some quality family time. But a gang of human traffickers, who were defeated by Bryan Mills in the first movie, decides to take their revenge by kidnapping Mills’s family. The gang manages to capture Bryan and his ex-wife Lenore, but their daughter Kim manages to escape. Now Bryan Mills has to show his “particular set of skills” to escape from the hands of bad guys and rescue his ex-wife while bringing Kim to safety.

This second part of the, now world-famous, Taken series, delivers movie lovers an exciting film filled with top-notch action. Most of the action scenes take place in historical places of Istanbul, like the rooftops of Grand Bazaar, Sultanahmet Mosque, the Spice Bazaar and the narrow streets of Eminönü and Sirkeci. Director Olivier Megaton presents Istanbul with beautiful pictures taken in the Bosporus, Golden Horn and Eminönü region, which is also known as the “historical peninsula”.

“Taken 2” has become a box office success just like the first movie and a sequel was shot in 2014 with the title “Taken 3”.

Director: Olivier Megaton

Cast: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace

Release year: 2012

7) The International: Tracking the bad guys all the way to Istanbul

Tom Tykwer’s movie, “The International” tells the story of an Interpol agent (Clive Owen) and an American district attorney (Naomi Watts) trying to reveal the illegal activities of an international banking institution. While these two determined figures try to retrieve the evidence of crimes like illegal arms dealing, money laundering and destabilizing world governments; they find themselves in Istanbul in a big fight of espionage and political struggle.

Just like most of the other movies we talked about in our list of “Top 10 movies set in Istanbul”, The International presents the city in an orientalist fashion, mostly by benefiting from the historically famous places like the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar. Director Tom Tykwer wants to create a mystic atmosphere and therefore prefers to rely on historical places which have an obvious mark of the Eastern cultural elements.

Director: Tom Tykwer

Cast: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl

Release year: 2009

8) The Water Diviner: Russell Crow looking for his son in Turkey

Russell Crowe by Eva Rinaldi – Wikimedia Commons

“The Water Diviner”, directed by Oscar-winning actor Russell Crow, tells the story of an Australian father, who comes to Turkey to find his lost sons.

Connor (Russell Crow) sends his three sons to Gallipoli to fight against the Ottoman army at the First World War. However, even though the war ends, Connor’s sons do not come back. Without having any information about the fate of his kids, Connor decides to come to Turkey and find them. As he arrives in Gallipoli, Connor learns that his two kids died on the battlefield but one of them was captured by the Turks and put in a prison in Istanbul. So, Connor goes to Istanbul for the search of his son, where he meets Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko) who allure Connor with her beauty and elegance. Here in Istanbul, Connor begins to search for his son with the help of Aysha and her son Orhan.

“The Water Diviner” presents Istanbul in the best way possible. It pictures the post-war Istanbul perfectly, thanks to shots made in well-preserved historical places like Balat, Pera, Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern. Director Russell Crow also shows his sympathy for Turkish people and the local culture by using a cinematographic language maintained according to the Turkish perspective of the post-war era.

Director: Russell Crowe

Cast: Russell Crowe, Yılmaz Erdoğan, Cem Yılmaz

Release year: 2014

9) Midnight Express: The movie that was once banned in Turkey

“Midnight Express” is the only film on our list of “Top 10 movies set in Istanbul” that gives a negative opinion about Turkey. In this movie, Director Alan Parker tells the story of an American man named Bill Hayes, who tries to smuggle drugs out of Turkey but gets caught at the airport. As soon as Bill is put in prison, he begins to struggle against evil prisoners and corrupt prison guards.

Midnight Express is based on the real-life story of Billy Hayes, who spent 5 years in a Turkish prison for drug trafficking. The scenario is written by Oliver Stone, based on the book written by Bill Hayes himself.

Midnight Express portrays Turkey and Turkish people in such a bad way that it was banned in Turkey for 20 years. Years later, Bill Hayes declared his discomfort about the portrayal of Turkish people in this movie. Screenwriter Oliver Stone, who won an Oscar with this work, also expressed his regret for causing a misunderstanding against Turkish people. While Midnight Express had been a huge success both at the box office and at the Oscars, it was slammed by many filmmakers and intellectuals for inflicting racial hatred towards Turks.

Director: Alan Parker

Cast: Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins

Release year: 1978

10) A Touch of Spice: A peace-loving movie speaking to Turks and Greeks

“A Touch of Spice” is the only Greek production in our list of “Top 10 movies set in Istanbul”. In this cozy and sincere movie, Director Tassos Boulmetis tells the story of a Greek man, named Fanis, who returns back to his birthplace, Istanbul, after 35 years. As Fanis goes to Istanbul, he meets with his first love Saime and discovers the forgotten pieces of his childhood.

A Touch of Spice is a decent movie promoting humanism and peace among nations. It uses Istanbul as a stage to give positive messages towards Turks and Greeks by pointing out that people are not very different from each other.

A Touch of Spice had been a box office success in Greece when it was released in 2003. It also won several awards at international events like Thessaloniki Film Festival and Nuremberg Film Festival.

Director: Tassos Boulmetis

Cast: Georges Corraface, Ieroklis Michaelidis, Renia Louizidou

Release year: 2003