Word: turkish
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...savagery are the ingredients of this plot, and the only thoroughly likeable character is a Viennese expatriate (Helen Miorren), who supplies arms to the Greek rebels seeking to overthrow the Ottomans. The Pasha is greedy, his minister conniving and threatening to those who stand in his way. His Turkish subjects are best described by their predilection for sacrificing sheep. One scene shows a man selling knives used for this purpose, with an American woman shrinking in horror at the thought of this barbarity. And later in the film, the title character sees such a sacrifice and recoils in horror...
...shoudn't be surprised at the film's scorn for the Turks. Many of the film's Turkish parts are played by Greeks, and the credits list Olympia Airways in the acknowledgements. Everyone knows about the antipathies between these two peoples. Of course, the Europeans never liked the Turks either, since they controlled access to farflung Asia. But while historical circumstance is some excuse for this biased depiction, Pascali's Island does not provide compelling support...
...remote island in the Adriatic, the film's plot centers on Pascali (Ben Kingsley), a part Turkish eccentric and informer for the Sultan who agrees to translate for Mr. Bowles, a visiting archaeologist (Charles Dance.) Bowles makes his living by obtaining a lease on land, then tricking its owners into buying it back at an exorbitant price. But this time, he really finds something on the property and refuses to sell it back when the Pasha who owns it gets suspicious. Pascali as the interpreter, is held repsonsible, and he finds himself in a bit of a bind...
...frightened about Turkey," says Chuck Pyfer, a physician from Eugene, Ore., who is backpacking through the country with his wife Kathy. "All our friends asked us, 'Why would you ever want to go there?' " After first visiting Greece and one of its islands, Kos, about six miles off the Turkish coast, the Pyfers decided on the spur of the moment to see Bodrum. They loved what they found. "The people are gentle and gracious, and the villages are wonderful," says Pyfer. "We'll be back...
...another reason for the tourism explosion. "Let's not be coy," says Briton Charles Stanford, who is traveling through the country in a camper with his wife. "The exchange rate has a lot to do with it. Every week we're here, the lira improves." Three years ago the Turkish lira was about 600 to the dollar; today it hovers around 1,300. Pamela Douglas, 24, a Los Angeles student, has been sharing rooms at boardinghouses for 2,500 liras a night. At the current exchange rate, that comes out to slightly less than $2. For that price, says Douglas...