Yabancı Gözüyle İstanbul’un Sinemasal Mekanları: Casus Filmleri, Turistik Deneyim ve Politik Bakış

Abstract

As a connecting point between the Orient and the Occident, the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul has inspired foreign filmmakers for decades. Istanbul has served as a location mostly for blockbuster spy, suspense and action films such as Stamboul Quest (1934), Journey into the Fear (1943), 5 Fingers (1952), From Russia with Love (1963), The International (2009) and Skyfall (2012). This study intends to look at how foreign filmmakers create and use the image of the city, and how the depictions of the city have changed through time from the viewpoint of non-Turkish filmmakers. The chronological historical survey of the examined spy films illustrates that the depictions of the city frequently change according to the political and social climate of the times, reflecting the dominant ideological views of the international setting. This study suggests that instead of offering a genuine encounter with another culture these spy films promise the spectators a touristic experience using both Oriental and Westernised images that are also dependent on the political dynamics of the specific time periods.