Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
German musician Alexander Hacke explores Istanbul's rich music culture and attempts to create a portrait of Turkey through music genres. On this journey, he encounters a mosaic that covers countless genres from rock to arabesque, electronic to hip-hop.
Fatih Akin's documentary is a singular musical travelogue through Istanbul's extraordinarily diverse soundscape, from traditional Sufi and Romani music to electronica and hip-hop. Its novelty is genuinely high — the film has an unmistakable voice and conception, using Alexander Hacke as a curious outsider-guide to weave together a mosaic of Turkish musical identity that feels organic rather than curated. Cinematography is competent and atmospheric but not exceptional. Acting is irrelevant as a category here (documentary subjects perform naturally), earning a below-average mark by default. The loose, wandering structure gives the plot a contemplative charm but little dramatic arc. The ending, like the journey itself, dissolves rather than resolves, which suits the film's spirit but leaves it feeling slightly incomplete.