Topkapi (1964)
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Topkapi Movie Review
Topkapi is a 1964 heist comedy film directed by Jules Dassin and starring Peter Ustinov and Melina Mercouri. It’s a thinly plotted and silly, but fun and charming flick.
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“It’s not a question of losing my nerve;
I never had nerve!“
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A small-time thief with passport problems becomes involved with a gang of prominent thieves who plot to rob the Topkapi museum in Istanbul. This is a very 60s movie that reminded me of James Bond from the time as well as other similar heist and comedy flicks with a dash of the The Pink Panther series too. The plot is very thin and not all that interesting, but the heist is admittedly very well executed.
There is the famous robbery scene that is very reminiscent of the first ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie. So, the movie was obviously highly influential on subsequent movies of this genre. That sequence was one of pure suspense and thrill. It’s a shame that the rest of the plot never quite reached that level of tension and excitement.
I also did not care for the comedic elements. The lightweight tone somewhat worked, but too often the humorous touches overwhelmed the suspenseful ones. I do think that a more serious approach would have done wonders for this story. The editing and pacing are also quite weak as the movie felt way too long and at times genuinely boring, which shouldn’t happen for this genre.
Peter Ustinov won an Oscar for this role, and although I personally wouldn’t give it to him, I still found his performance to be quite strong. He’s the most memorable part of this movie and his character is the most interesting one. Melina Mercouri also was fine. It took me a while to get used to her character, but eventually I grew accustomed to her and I found her to be quite fun. Others are also okay, though far less important to the story.
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Topkapi benefits from an excellent setting very well utilized. The Technicolor cinematography is gorgeous and the movie is full of detail in costumes and sets. The score is also very good, but I did find the sound to be overly loud and chaotic at times. The directing is fine, but Jules Dassin made meatier movies than this one.
Topkapi is a solid heist comedy that is too silly and lightweight in its tone, but genuinely charming and fun at times. The ending is great and its famous heist sequence obviously turned out to be hugely influential on the first ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie. The acting performances are uniformly strong and the movie looks excellent, but it needed better pacing, a stronger plot and more of those scenes of suspense and tension.
My Rating – 3.5
This is the sixth film in my 4our series where I will cover one film per decade that is having an anniversary this year, from 1914 to 2014. Next up is the year 1974 where I chose The Conversation. Keep an eye on that one as well.
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