I like that even as Netflix is making adaptations of all kinds of intellectual property, some of questionable merit, that includes great novels as well. I haven’t read the novel by Orhan Pamuk though my wife has but both of us have fond memories of our trip to Turkey so watching this seemed like a good idea. The production is as usual sumptuous and I enjoyed visiting the Istanbul of the 1970s. I’m less of a fan of the obsessive love story and the character Kemal Basmaci seems like any other creepy older man preying on a younger girl. Yet as befits a great novel, the sheer intensity of his emotions is intoxicating and his externalizing of his love into mundane objects is a fascinating form of mania.

In 1975, Kemal is one of the young scions of the Westernized elite families of Turkey who all but run the country and own its largest businesses. He is set to marry Sibel, the daughter of a diplomat, who runs in the same social circle as himself. One day while buying a handbag for Sibel, he realizes that the shop assistant is a distant relative of his Füsun Keskin who he has not seen since they were children. He is instantly smitten by her youthful beauty. He meets her again while returning the handbag after Sibel identifies it as being counterfeit. Under the pretense of needing to refund his money, Kemal arranges for Füsun to meet him at the Merhamet Apartment owned by his family. There he seduces her and takes her virginity and they begin an illicit affair while his marriage arrangements with Sibel continue. Even as Füsun falls passionately in love with him, Kemal teases her with empty promises and seemingly acts as if he can both marry Sibel and keep Füsun as a mistress. He even invites Füsun and her parents to his engagement party. After this final insult, Füsun breaks off their relationship and disappears. The despondent Kemal searches in vain for her and seeking consolation in the mundane objects that she has touched, begins collecting them in the Merhamet Apartment.

This is a beautiful and lavish production and the actors who play Kemal and Füsun are similarly beautiful people. I suspect that the recreated streets of Istanbul of the 1970s aren’t perfectly authentic but they look good enough to me. It is very striking that the version of Turkey shown here is so little like the modern Turkey we saw during our visit. The early parts of the series focusing on the privileged elite that Kemal belongs to look more like Europe. All of them are ostensibly Muslim so it’s astounding how little that matters as it doesn’t exactly stop them from drinking alcohol and partying it up. I’d read that one of the themes of the novel is the juxtaposition between Kemal’s Western background and Füsun ‘s family more modest Eastern values. Unfortunately while I greatly enjoyed the scenes of Kemal slumming it in the poorer neighborhoods of Istanbul, I didn’t that to be all that central in this adaptation. At most, it highlights how comparatively powerless the women in Turkey were, even among Kenal’s supposedly more enlightened circle. After learning of Kemal’s affair and his continuing infatuation for Füsun, Sibel still does her best to repair their relationship. After all, having already lost her own virginity to him, she has few other respectable prospects. Kemal gets away with so much because he is rich and he is a man.

The heart of the story is still Kemal’s all consuming love for Füsun. Most viewers will rightly perceive Kemal as a predatory creep who takes advantage of a powerless young woman. He deceives her into staying longer than she wants by hiding her umbrella. He makes promises he has no intention of carrying out. He is driven overwhelmingly by lust for her youthful beauty. Even his obsession with the objects that she has touched is rooted in the sensory enjoyment of her physical presence. He has no real interest in her personal dreams or wants. Füsun is hardly a saint herself. She actively longs for fame and a glamorous life. She wants to be included in the elite jet set of Turkish high society and knows that a man like Kemal can be her entry ticket. She accuses Kemal of seducing her, which is true, but she also willingly puts herself in the situation to be seduced. It’s a rather ignoble story and hardly a shining example of romance. Pamuk’s genius however lies in actualizing and externalizing Kemal’s obsession into physical objects. The idea of constructing a museum dedicated to the love of one’s life is entrancing even if the basis of that love itself is shallow. It makes for a powerful story and it’s wonder the novel was such a hit.

As far as I can tell, this adaptation is faithful enough to the novel and Pamuk himself seems to be happy with it. I’m always a fan of watching more shows from cultures and countries we ordinarily have little exposure to so this is a great candidate for a Turkish show to try. It’s a beautiful vision of a Turkey that no longer exists and a decent way to get to know such a famous book if you aren’t going to read it for yourself.