Five minarets, a few too many messages

Once a king of arabesque, Mahsun Kırmızıgül is now continuing to flaunt his new persona as an accomplished filmmaker with his third feature. ‘New York’ta 5 Minare’ (Five Minarets in New York), written, directed and starring Kırmızıgül, tackles paranoia toward Islam with impressive cinematography and action scenes, but misses with a lack of subtlety


It’s déjà vu all over for Turkish moviegoers, critics and a substantial portion of the Turkish media. Once one of the most popular names of exploitative arabesque music, Mahsun Kırmızıgül is continuing his new quest to position himself as a revered filmmaker despite being given the cold shoulder by the Turkish cinema establishment.

Kırmızıgül’s third feature New York’ta 5 Minare (Five Minarets in New York), which was controversial both with its subject matter and the debate it generated in the media, hit the ground running with impressive opening box office numbers.

The film, written, directed and starring Kırmızıgül, hopes to hit the right target with its subject of global Islamic paranoia and abundant messages of peace, understanding and tolerance.