Highest-Rated Movies about 'Istanbul', Sort by Popularity

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2005), The Edge of Heaven (2007), Kedi (2016), Midnight Express (1978), Three Monkeys (2008), From Russia with Love (1963), Magic Carpet Ride (2005), Murder on the Orient Express (1974) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Istanbul movies.

#1. Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2005)

Storyline: Award-winning director Fatih Akin takes us on a journey through Istanbul, the city that bridges Europe and Asia, and challenges familiar notions of east and west. He looks at the vibrant musical scene which includes traditional Turkish music plus rock and hip-hop.—Anonymous

Plot Keywords: musician, singer, music lover, musicologist, powerful, inspiring, istanbul ...

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#2. The Edge of Heaven (2007)

Storyline: Nejat seems disapproving about his widower father Ali's choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But he grows fond of her when he discovers she sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. Yeter's sudden death distances father and son. Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, a gesture not particularly pleasing to her conservative mother Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea is denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Lotte travels to Turkey,where she gets caught up in the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten.

Plot Keywords: activist, father, prostitute, girlfriend, son, crafty, dense ...

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#3. Kedi (2016)

Storyline: In the city of Istanbul, there are more than just human inhabitants. There are also the stray domestic cats of the city who live free but have complicated relationships with the people themselves. This film follows a selection of individual cats as they live their own lives in Istanbul with their own distinctive personalities. However, with this vibrant population, is the reality of an ancient metropolis changing with the times that may have less of a place for them.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Plot Keywords: turkish man, turkish woman, cat, owner, kitten, family member, charming ...

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#4. Midnight Express (1978)

Storyline: On October 6, 1970 while boarding an international flight out of Istanbul Airport, American Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) is caught attempting to smuggle two kilos of hashish out of the country, the drugs strapped to his body. He is told that he will be released if he cooperates with the authorities in identifying the person who sold him the hashish. Billy's troubles really begin when after that assistance, he makes a run for it and is recaptured. He is initially sentenced to just over four years for possession, with no time for the more harsh crime of smuggling. The prison environment is inhospitable in every sense, with a sadistic prison guard named Hamidou (Paul L. Smith) ruling the prison, he who relishes the mental and physical torture he inflicts on the prisoners for whatever reason. Told to trust no one, Billy does befriend a few of the other inmates, namely fellow American Jimmy Booth (Randy Quaid) (in for stealing two candlesticks from a mosque), a Swede named Erich (Norbert ...

Plot Keywords: prison guard, prisoner, police officer, girlfriend, judge, bleak, gutsy ...

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#5. Three Monkeys (2008)

Storyline: Near the Bosporus, Eyüp and Hacer live in a modest flat with their son Ismail, in his twenties, who's doing poorly in his studies. Few words pass between them, and a past family tragedy brings sorrow daily. On a rainy night, Eyüp's boss Servet, a wealthy businessman who's entering politics, hits a pedestrian on a lonely road. He drives off and offers money to Eyüp if Eyüp will take the fall - probably a six-month sentence. Eyüp agrees, and while he's in prison, Ismail wants his mother to ask Servet for enough money to buy a car. Servet, in turn, desires Hacer. How can this play out?

Plot Keywords: businessman, driver, wife, son, emotional, disheartening, intense ...

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#6. From Russia with Love (1963)

Storyline: James Bond 007 is on the search for a Russian decoding machine, known as "Lektor". Bond needs to find this machine, before the evil S.P.E.C.T.R.E. organization discovers it. While being romantically linked with Russian girl, Tatiana Romanova, Bond sneaks his way around Istanbul, while each S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Agent tries to pick him off, including the over powering Donald "Red" Grant and ex K.G.B. Agent Rosa Klebb, who knows all of the tricks in the book, and even possesses an incredible poison tipped shoe.

Plot Keywords: james bond, spy, russian, pretty woman, assassin, criminal, cheeky ...

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#8. Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Storyline: The first class compartment of the December 1935 departure of the Orient Express from Istanbul is full, unusual for this time of the year. Regardless, famed and fastidious Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, who needs to get back to London immediately, is able to secure last minute passage in the compartment with the assistance of his friend, Signor Bianchi, one of the directors of the train line who is also making the trip. Some of the first class passengers seem concerned about Poirot's presence on the train. At least one of them has reason to be concerned, as later, another first class passenger, who earlier in the trip asked Poirot to provide protection for him due to several death threats, is found murdered in his stateroom by multiple stabbings. At the time the victim is found, the train is unexpectedly stopped and delayed due to snow in remote Yugoslavia, which may be problematic for the murderer in getting away now that Poirot is on the case, which he is doing as a favor to ...

Plot Keywords: detective, millionaire, aristocrat, doctor, conductor, hercule poirot, suspenseful ...

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#9. Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Coran (2003)

Storyline: In a street called Blue in a very poor neighborhood in Paris, Monsieur Ibrahim is an old Muslim Turkish owner of a small market. He becomes friend of the teenager Jewish Moises, tenderly nicknamed Momo, who lives with his father in a small apartment on the other side of the street. Monsieur Ibrahim gives paternal love and teaches the knowledge of the Qur'an to the boy, receiving in return love and respect.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Keywords: young boy, muslim, jew, prostitute, movie star, shop owner, tender ...

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#10. Climates (2006)

Storyline: University professor Isa (Nuri Bilge Ceylan) and his lover, Bahar (Ebru Ceylan), are on vacation together when they break up. She returns to Istanbul by herself, and later, Isa resumes a relationship with a former lover. Upon hearing that she is in the East filming a TV project, Isa travels to that part of the country to track her down and perhaps mend the rift between them.

Plot Keywords: professor, wife, ex-lover, offbeat, emotional, istanbul, turkey ...

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#11. The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)

Storyline: A mystery writer named Leyden is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, to learn more about the man. Along the way, he is joined by mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.—Ken Yousten <kyousten@bev.net>

Plot Keywords: crime boss, writer, stranger, mistress, colonel, intricate, gritty ...

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#12. Djam (2017)

Storyline: Djam, a Greek girl, is sent to Istanbul on a mission to find a motor-boat part of her uncle, a former sailor and great fan of the Greek musical style rebetiko. In the city, she meets Avril, a French woman who works as a volunteer with refugees but who has run out of money and not known in Turkey. Generous, fearless and unpredictable, Djam leaves with Avril to Mytilene - a journey of music and encounters.—Rodrigo Gonçalves Winther

Plot Keywords: greek person, frenchwoman, young woman, beautiful girl, best friend, party girl, emotional ...

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#13. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Storyline: In the early 1970s during the Cold War, the head of British Intelligence, Control (Sir John Hurt), resigns after an operation in Budapest, Hungary goes badly wrong. It transpires that Control believed one of four senior figures in the service was in fact a Russian Agent, a mole, and the Hungary operation was an attempt to identify which of them it was. George Smiley (Gary Oldman) had been forced into retirement by the departure of Control, but is asked by a senior government figure to investigate a story told to him by rogue Agent Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy), that there was a mole. Smiley considers that the failure of the Hungary operation and the continuing success of Operation Witchcraft (an apparent source of significant Soviet Intelligence) confirms this, and takes up the task of finding him.

Plot Keywords: spy, agent, chief, researcher, deputy, mole, brooding ...

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#14. Steam: The Turkish Bath (1997)

Storyline: Francesco and Marta are husband and wife running a small design company in Rome. When Francesco's long forgotten Aunt Anita dies in Istanbul, he travels there to look after the sale of the hamam (one of a few traditional Turkish baths left) he inherited. There he meets the family running the hamam, gets attracted to a member of it and the whole Turkish atmosphere and decides not to sell the hamam..—Anonymous

Plot Keywords: designer, wife, business partner, caretaker, father, mother, tender ...

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#15. The Equalizer 2 (2018)

Storyline: Director Antoine Fuqua reunites with Denzel Washington in this sequel to 2014's The Equalizer. Washington resumes his role as Robert McCall: a retired CIA Black Ops operative who now works as a Lyft driver and moonlights as a vigilante. When his long-time friend Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) is murdered, he embarks on a relentless, globe-trotting quest for vengeance.

Plot Keywords: vigilante, best friend, colleague, assassin, thug, intense, thrilling ...

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