A traditional Turkish music is playing in the background. Fast friends; street photographer Hashmet (Sadri Alisik), unemployed actor Shefik, fisherman Ibrahim and grocer Halil are having a conversation in a neglected, smoke-filled Turkish tavern.
Hashmet; "Do you think I never fall in love before, my dear friend Shefik? This is only mercy; just a little worry for an innocent, ignorant and timid young girl"
Ibrahim; "Please forgive me brother, but I honestly don't think so."
Hashmet; "You too Ibrahim. Seriously?"
Ibrahim; "If is it a matter of having mercy, I believe there are many girls who deserve it more than Ayshe. Whom should we have mercy on? Hundred thousands of working class Turkish girls or the girls like Ayshe who are after easy money? Anyway...Please bear with me, if I am belaboring the point." Holding up his glass "I drink this one to your health my friends"
Hashmet would take his chance on Ayshe, since helping all women in need was beyond his capacity. Even worse he had not secured his own future yet.
Great dialogues, conformable and cleverly emplaced social references, magnificent acting and very fluent story telling...
It is a tragicomic story of an innocent girl's struggle to protect her innocence, in a yet unspoiled Istanbul of 1960's, shortly after rural-urban migration started within Turkey. The story of everything we have lost just because we took them for granted. In my opinion "Ah Guzel Istanbul" (Oh Beautiful Istanbul) is not only one of the best Turkish movies of all time, it is one of the best in the world.
