The delight of the Istanbul Film Festival is to get a glimpse of the Turkish films one can't see so easily elsewhere, and to go from theater to theater on lively Istiklal Street, as bustling as ever, despite the terrorist bombing here last month. One goes up and down the cobblestones, passing roasted chestnut vendors, local bands playing music, a man in silver blowing bubbles, a dozen Western chain stores, and of course, brightly lit shops selling every kind of Turkish Delight. The side-streets, behind the cinema theaters, are alive with crowds at the local taverns, dining on exquisite grilled vegetables and meats, under golden lamps.
The other great pleasure of the festival is the eclectic offering of international films, from a Mexican documentary on a humanitarian architect, to a filmic ride down the Amazon, to Spike Lee's homage to Michael Jackson.
Spike Lee's Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to 'Off the Wall', which premiered at Sundance, is a captivating--and thorough--look at Michael Jackson's determination to make it as one of the greatest musicians of all time. Opening with a thrilling image of Jackson's magic white shoes, the film consists of interviews with a vast cast of music industry bigwigs who had some professional contact with the musician, including Sammy Davis Jr, Lee Daniels, Gene Kelly and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, The film also features clips of Jackson's famed performances, as well as 1960s interviews with the Jackson Five on the Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand. The image that comes across of Michael Jackson is a man who, from boyhood, knew what he wanted to achieve--and made it happen, step by step, with hard work and focus, inspired by a dream.
The thrill of this movie is that the premise is ably demonstrated: the serious hard-working Michael, who kept his eye on the prize, comes across. In other words: "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough." There is also a strong political angle to this film. Spike Lee pointedly includes an interview with cultural critic Dream Hampton who observes that there is a stereotype of the successful Black artist as being "naturally" talented, to the discredit of the hard work, education and drive involved. Lee's film challenges that stereotype full-force.
And yet, there is a lacuna in this celebration of Michael Jackson, and I daresay it is Michael Jackson himself. In the drive to forge this image of Michael Jackson as a paragon of American virtue, Spike Lee leaves out all contradictions about the artist, and eschews all intimate details: i.e. the human side. What results is a film that may resonate better on American soil, where the ideology of the self-made man who makes his Dream, with relentless focus, has strong cultural value--and is a quality in itself. Here on the other side of the Atlantic, the storyline comes across as ideologically forced, or imposed. One is left wanting more access to the inner world of this exceptionally talented artist: the reason for his love for music and dance outside the context of industry and "success."
A surprise joy in this year's festival was the tribute to classic American director Otto Preminger. When I went through the obligatory bomb control checkpoint and sat down in the cinema to see Preminger's Bunny Lake is Missing, I had no idea what to expect. It turned out that Bunny was not only one of the best films at the festival, but one of the most exciting artistic films I have ever seen. A winsome young mother cannot find her child after depositing her that morning at a daycare center. The search begins: to find the child, as well as to find out whether the child truly exists. Every scene in this movie is an idiosyncratic encounter between bizarre characters. The sets are riveting as the characters move, like dancers, inside them. The school takes on the dimensions of a haunted house; an apartment looks like the scene of danger. The off-the-wall dialogue hints at a social critique beyond the scope of entertainment. A visual and philosophical treat.
"I agree," said international film expert Chris Fujiwara, with a grin, as we sat down together in the Marmara Pera hotel lobby. Fujiwara, the chief programmer for the London East Asia Film Festival and president of the Fipresci jury here at the festival, had just given a masterclass on Preminger that morning.
"Preminger's mise-en-scene is extraordinary. He is known for his long takes, the sweeping camera movement, the choice to stage scenes from a neutral position. And yes, he does raise deep questions in his films, such as what are the limits of institutions. Preminger was one of the figures who helped modernize Hollywood."
The last morning of this intense weekend in Istanbul, I went to an Ottoman-era bathhouse near Istiklal Street, luminous with tiles, and drank mint tea in the steamy silence.