''Hamam'' ( it, Il bagno turco, also known as ''Steam: The Turkish Bath'') is a 1997 Italian-Turkish-Spanish film directed by

Ferzan Özpetek Ferzan Özpetek (born 3 February 1959) is a Turkish-Italian film director and screenwriter, residing in Italy. Biography Ferzan Özpetek was born in Istanbul in 1959. In 1976, he decided to move to Italy to study Cinema History at Sapienza Unive ...

about the powerful transformations certain places can cause in people.

Synopsis

Francesco (

Alessandro Gassman Alessandro Gassmann (born 24 February 1965) is an Italian actor and film director. Early life Gassmann was born in Rome, Italy, the son of Italian actor Vittorio Gassman and French actress Juliette Mayniel. He is of German, Jewish and French ...

) and Marta (

Francesca d'Aloja Francesca D'Aloja (born 21 April 1963) is an Italian film, television and stage actress. Life and career Born in Rome, D'Aloja started her career as a theater actress. In cinema, after several secondary roles, she made her debut as main actres ...

) are an uptight

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

couple running a small design firm. Their marriage, once the most important thing to both, has lost all meaning. Francesco loses interest in Marta, prompting her to start an affair with their business partner. Francesco's aunt Anita, the

black sheep In the English language, black sheep is an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The term stems from sheep whose fleece is colored black rather than the more comm ...

of the family, dies in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, where Francesco goes to try to sell the property he has inherited as quickly as possible. The family who had managed the property under Anita's supervision and direction welcomes him with hospitality, but they are concerned about what the future holds for them. Their young son Mehmet (

Mehmet Günsür Mehmet Günsür (; born 8 May 1975) is a Turkish people, Turkish model, actor and producer. Early life Günsür was born in 1975 as the second child of a family of Tatar descent (a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic subgroup). His mother, Sibel, was ...

) is particularly eager to show their handsome guest around. When Francesco discovers the property includes a derelict ''hamam'', a

Turkish bath A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...

, he instead decides to restore the ''hamam'' and reopen it to the public. During the restoration, he starts a relationship with Mehmet. Steam-Scene Meanwhile, Marta arrives in Istanbul to get a speedy divorce from Francesco, but she is taken aback when she realizes how much Francesco has changed from his old self: both the ''hamam'' and Mehmet's unconditional affection were just what he needed, giving him back a purpose in life. Marta falls in love with him again, causing Rome and the divorce to lose importance for her. Francesco's unwillingness to sell the property makes him enemies, some of whom ultimately murder him. Marta decides to stay in Istanbul and run the ''hamam'', the final scene suggesting she has turned into a second Anita.

Cast

as Francesco *

as Marta *

Carlo Cecchi Carlo Cecchi (born 25 January 1939 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy) is an Italian actor. Born in Florence, Cecchi studied under the Living Theatre and with the Workshop of Eduardo De Filippo. In 1968, he made his debut for cinema in '' La sua giorn ...

as Oscar *

Halil Ergün Halil İbrahim Ergün (born 8 September 1946) is a Turkish stage, movie and television series actor. He studied political science at Ankara University. Halil began his theater career in Bursa. Ergün debuted in cinema with director Yilmaz Gün ...

as Osman *

Serif Sezer In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ...

as Perran *

as Mehmet * Basak Köklükaya as Fusun *

Alberto Molinari Alberto Molinari (born Rome, April 14, 1965) is an Italian actor, producer, and director, mainly of documentary films. He made his debut in the 1988 film ''Un bel dì vedremo''. Filmography As actor Films * '' Il cuore di mamma'', direc ...

as Paolo * Zozo Toledo as Zozo *

Ludovica Modugno Ludovica Modugno (12 January 1949 – 26 October 2021) was an Italian actress who specialized in dubbing. Biography Modugno made her debut at the age of four in the film ''Il Dottor Antonio''. She debuted in dubbing in 1955 with the film ''Mirac ...

as Voice of Aunt Anita (voice) Other cast members; Zerrin Arbas, Necdet Mahfi Ayral, Murat Ilker and Alper Kul

References

External links

* 1997 drama films 1997 LGBT-related films 1997 films Films directed by Ferzan Özpetek Films set in Istanbul Films shot in Turkey Golden Orange Award for Best Film winners Italian LGBT-related films Spanish LGBT-related films Turkish LGBT-related films LGBT-related drama films 1997 multilingual films Spanish multilingual films Turkish multilingual films Italian multilingual films 1990s Italian-language films 1990s Turkish-language films {{LGBT-drama-film-stub