[yasr_overall_rating]
“The Ottoman Lieutenant” is a love story between an idealistic American nurse and a Turkish officer in World War I.
Romance has a long history in cinema. From “Casablanca” to “Titanic” and beyond, the prototypical male-female forbidden romance has long held a prominent role on the silver screen. Perhaps because it speaks to many people, or because we are all conditioned to expect it, this formula has long delivered hefty profits to studios that have applied it correctly. After all, everyone knows what it is like to wish for something they cannot have – why should romance be spared this treatment in our materialistic and results-driven culture? This, perhaps more than anything, is why films like these have continued to fill theaters since the beginning of commercial moving pictures. “The Ottoman Lieutenant” is simply the latest in a long line of underwhelming additions to this particular genre.
Despite its flaws, which are numerous, “The Ottoman Lieutenant” deserves plaudits for pursuing originality in its setting, if nothing else. Perhaps it’s the innate history nerd in me, but I found it deeply refreshing for a film to take place outside a well-known (to Western audiences, at least) locale. The Ottoman Empire, where the story takes place, is the predecessor to modern-day Turkey and exerted great influence over the course of the second millennium. It is rare for one to see a Middle Eastern culture portrayed in film outside of the all too familiar box of radical Islamism. Despite “Lieutenant’s” ultimately disappointing product, it was deeply encouraging to be able to enjoy a film that pushed the boundaries past the border of Romanticism that has held creative types in thrall since its inception.
“The Ottoman Lieutenant,” set in the beginning of the First World War, tells the story of an American nurse, Lillie (Hera Hilmar), who was born to an upper-class family. Lillie seeks to use her medical training to save lives beyond the border of the then-isolationist United States, and finds herself in “East Anatolia” (modern-day Turkey) after attending a lecture in Philadelphia about the dire need for healthcare professionals in the region. While in Turkey, Lillie becomes enamored with Ottoman military officer Ismail (Michiel Huisman). Right off the bat, it’s clear that “Lieutenant” sacrifices a realistic portrayal of an early 20th century Muslim-Christian romance in favor of a more benign depiction. Hilmar and Huisman certainly enjoy on-screen chemistry, but that is about the only redeeming quality of this pictorial affair. The rest of the film is filled with the typical triteness of a period romance. Indeed, little attention is paid to what life in 1914 would have actually been like. How many old money, Northeastern families would have condoned something like this? How many people from those families, male or female, would have even wanted to abscond to Asia Minor? Other than typical bromides, “Lieutenant” offers little for the serious filmgoer.
The saving grace of this picture is its unique setting. Were it to take place in a European capital or another familiar backdrop, it would truly not be worth watching. “The Ottoman Lieutenant” successfully resists part of the siren song of romanticism, while completely buckling under the rest. The “forbidden fruit” aspect of the white/brown romance is overwrought and has been delved into numerous times before by far superior filmmakers. What’s more, beyond the atypical location, there is very little substance to be found. Huisman and Hilmar deliver their parts well, but past that, there is nothing memorable to lift “Lieutenant” beyond its myriad competitors.
In theaters Friday, March 10th
