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Wonderful Movie

Excellent but underrated film

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

romanticism, clichés, a dramatic-pink story about a fictional Ottoman Empire. and decent performances. it is enough for the success of a film who preserves more the air of "80țs cinema than the traces of the stories about harem created by foreign visitors. sure, it is a nice film. sure, it is part of a long series of films recreating the past in nice frames. and, more important, it is a good occasion for admire the right actors, in the right roles, doing the expected performances. so, Harem.

a chain of nice clichés. but interesting for cast, clash between civilizations, romanticism ,atmosphere and the remember of a lot of sweet legends about Middle East. the performance of Art Malik is really interesting. the presence of Ava Gardner in a cold role - almost seductive. Omar Shariff, as fictive sultan , does his ordinary role in exotic B film. but the great virtue of film is to present the spirit of "80's. the glamor, the ambiguous lights, the soap opera potential, the life as dream, the love as large circle. the second virtue - the atmosphere from Arabian Nights with precise number of drops from freedom, condition of woman in Orient at the beginning of century and flavor or rare images. a film who could be more than easy delight. but a letter from far land of memory.

When I heard that Nancy Travis, who played across Mike Myers in "So I Married an Axe Murderer," and Art Malik, who played the heavy in "True Lies," were the romantic leads in this 1980s TV drama, I knew it was something I had to see. In its ludicrous, Reagan-era soap operatic way, it's an entertaining little gem, filled with delightfully cringe-inducing lines like, "Because you don't have a woman's heart!"It's also a compendium of just about every cliché known to man, from the freedom-loving American ingénue who shoots like Annie Oakley, to the stuffy Victorian aunt, to the student revolutionary who jumps on soapboxes at every opportunity, to the uber-Orientalist portrayal of the harem with all its poisonous plots and sexy belly dancers. It's set back around 1907 in the Ottoman Empire, and the story, such as it is, involves the adventures of a blond, dewy-eyed American girl named Jessica (Travis) who goes to Turkey with her proper and equally blond English fiancée (Julian Sands), and gets kidnapped. Inevitably, she ends up in a harem, fending off the advances of a besotted sultan (Omar Sharif), and the wicked intrigues of his chief wife (Ava Gardner, channeling the stepmother from "Snow White"). Although the sultan is awfully keen on her, Jessica falls in love with the leader of the revolutionary movement, Tarik Pasha- who is played with a completely straight face by Art Malik.The whole story unfolds like a dime store novel, which I suppose is appropriate given the setting, and even though it's as preposterous as the average episode of the old Zorro TV show, it's still a lot of fun. The whole premise of the show, with its emphasis on the tyrannized and barbarous East, would probably give old Edward Said fits, but it's notable for the fact that it has good Turks alongside its bad, and that it has a genuine Muslim actor as the hero. There's quite a few hot Middle Eastern and South Asian guys running around in this, and Art Malik is surprisingly appealing (and gorgeous) as the idealistic young Turkish hothead. There are also plenty of beautiful location shots in the old Moorish mosques and palaces in Granada and Cordoba, and in Morocco as well, although the director seemed to forget that the Sahara desert is nowhere near Turkey.It's actually comparable to "The Lady and the Highwayman," another kitschy, lavishly produced '80s period soap, although unlike "Lady," "Harem" does not have Hugh Grant and was never released to DVD. However, it's definitely worth a watch if you don't mind your entertainment on the corny side. Even though I was groaning at many of the plot twists and dialogue, I would happily watch it again.

In my opinion this is the best TV mini-series ever made. I have only ever seen it on television once and at one video store (no longer open). Art Malik played a great part and I have enjoyed several of his other films. If you have not seen this series I advise that you do so - definitely 10 out of 10.