İstanbul Tales
Five modern Istanbul lives collide in a poignant, shadowed reimagining of classic fairy tales.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- wistful
- darkly tender
- reflective evening
- international cinema night
What critics said
Critics and festival audiences broadly embraced the film's inventive interconnected fairy-tale structure, emotional drama, and portrait of Istanbul.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Five separate tales unfold across modern-day Istanbul and gain meaning through their shared urban setting.
Snow White, Cinderella, the Pied Piper, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood are reworked as modern Istanbul stories.
The film explicitly presents five interconnected stories rather than one continuous protagonist-centered plot.
The film is identified as LGBTQ-related and places identity and marginalization within its contemporary Turkish setting.
Films like İstanbul Tales, and why
Paris, je t'aime
interwoven urban stories, literary fairy-tale transformation, and bittersweet drama
Babel
multiple interconnected narratives using a city as an emotional and thematic landscape
The Company of Wolves
contemporary reworking of familiar fairy-tale motifs with dark social drama
Movie Details
- Directors
- Ömür Atay, Selim Demirdelen, Kudret Sabancı, Yücel Yolcu, Ümit Ünal
- Release Date
- 2005-04-11
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (38)
Cast
- Altan Erkekli
- Özgü Namal
- Mehmet Günsür
- Erkan Can
- Çetin Tekindor
- Azra Akın
- Nejat İşler
- Vahide Perçin
- Hilal Arslan
- Yelda Reynaud
Common questions
- What is İstanbul Tales about?
- Five modern Istanbul lives collide in a poignant, shadowed reimagining of classic fairy tales.
- What is İstanbul Tales like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of İstanbul Tales as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is İstanbul Tales violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in İstanbul Tales as mild.
- What did critics think of İstanbul Tales?
- Critics and festival audiences broadly embraced the film's inventive interconnected fairy-tale structure, emotional drama, and portrait of Istanbul.
- Which films are like İstanbul Tales?
- Films with a similar feel include Paris, je t'aime, Babel, and The Company of Wolves.
- How long is İstanbul Tales?
- İstanbul Tales runs 99 minutes.
