An insult to Turks, an insult to filmmaking

Rating: 4/10 (10 March 2012)

This film is an insult to Faith Sultan Mehmet, to Ottoman history, and to the intelligence of any audience. It is the very example of how western orientalizm can be internalized. The reason why the conquest of Constantinopolis was a matter of survival for the Turks -the economical, political reasons- were totally non existent. Mehmet II, a well educated man, is nothing more than a religious zealot in this film. Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, who is well respected by the Turks, is a caricature.
Suicide bombings, only a phenomenon of late 20th century, is a common theme in the film: all Ottoman soldiers behave like suicide bombers! What is this? What are they trying to imply? This is a part of the recent series of superficial films and TV shows which seem to aim de-educating Turkey, constantly attack reason, and play at Turkish people's feelings of being under attack of western contempt, orientalizm and memories of WWI defeat.
The side themes fail as hard as the main theme: an absurd love story, a wife with no dialogue, unexplainable motives of Urban, and so on...
This film is harshly criticized in Turkey. I can't imagine why it is being defended so eagerly on IMDb. Because it fails in stirring any feeling of satisfaction of national pride as well. No character study, no context, no wit, not even a propaganda, just the first depiction of the conquest with a relatively big production, a way to imagine how it was, and that's why people go to see this movie in masses. One can't deny the production of war scenes is an improvement for Turkish film industry, but unfortunately, that's all.