Die Liebenden vom Hotel von Osman (2001) User Reviews

Not too bad

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 24 June 2015]

This is a German-Turkish short film from almost 15 years ago and it won several awards. These went to Idil Üner who wrote, directed and starred in here. Her boyfriend is played by Faith Akin, one of Germany's most known filmmakers right now. But here he "only" acts. The rest of the cast are not particularly known, some of them have actually never acted before. A couple arrives at a hotel in Turkey and rent a room. They act as if they were celebrities and marries, but the hotel owner gets suspicious and arrives at the door of their room with a couple policemen. This is where you probably wonder why. Well... it is Turkey and morals are much stronger there than anywhere else and an unmarried couple taking a room together are probably cheating on their spouses which is really not acceptable. When the two realize that there are people spying on them they act within their performances. And not bad at all, I also believed them until the police officers left. Actually, they are turning the tables on everybody because they pretend do be married and cheated on and that is exactly what the other guys thought they were doing on somebody else. A smart little short film. Nuthing truly outstanding, but worth a watch in my opinion. Shame Üner never made another film again.

Cross-cultural conflicts reflect the "war of the sexes" and vice-versa

[HoMordomo · 9/10 · 10 June 2004]

This is one of the jewels of the documentaries of a specific multi-cultural cinema, now being promoted throughout South America. This 12 film program comprises "Getürkt-Turkish German Cinema of the Third Generation" a two week long "Goethe Institute" exhibition. "Getürkt" ("Made Turkish" or "a la turca") is, not coincidentally, also the title of Fatih Akin's 1997 semi-autobiographical documentary (also featured).

Here in THE LOVERS OF HOTEL..., Akin takes a break from directing to play the male lead, while the female lover, Idil Ülner, acts and directs. Interestingly, she has played lead female roles in three of Akin's best-known full length features (all part of this 12 film exhibition): Short Sharp Shock (1999), Dealer (1999) and In July (2000) - using the International English titles of these German language films. Add to all this, Akin's Golden Bear Award at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival for his latest film, and this documentary has great appeal beyond its subject matter.

Be that as it may, the subject matter is indeed fascinating and very well developed during the 14 minute duration. This film plays with many stereotypes, and addresses different manifestations of love and jealousy, including the lovers' affection for Istanbul and Berlin both. This is definitely one of the best German-Turkish (or is it Turkish-German?) documentaries I've seen. I recommend it highly to all, especially since the essential theme will appeal to most of us, apart from the German Turkish identity issue, and Akin's emergence as one of the major German language film makers of his generation.