Harem Movie Review 1999

Exotic but not particularly erotic saga of young beauty Safiye (Gillain) who is sold as a concubine to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. She becomes his favorite and official wife but this does not prevent her from turning to palace eunuch Nadir (Descas) for affection. Nor does it protect Safiye or the rest of the harem's women when the empire falls, the Sultan flees to Europe, and the women are abandoned to fend for themselves. Turkish, French, and Italian with subtitles.

Distribution

Strand Releasing, 1460 4th St., Ste. 302, Santa Monica, CA 90401, Phone: (310)395-5002, Fax: (310)395-2502, Email: strand@strandrel.com, URL: http://www.strandreleasing.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 107 minutes.
Originally from Italian.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Middle East, Royalty, Sex & Sexuality, Historical Drama

Screenplay

Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli

Cast

Marie Gillain, Alex Descas, Valeria Golino, Lucia Bose

Cinematography

Pasquale Mari

Director

Ferzan Ozpetek

Music

Aldo De Scalzi