La Pasión Turca

I was convinced my life was perfect,

until I got to Istanbul.

That's where I discovered a passion like no other.

Desire, pleasure,

paradise in the darkness.

That's where everything changed forever.

Olivia.

- It's me, Pablo. - Where am I?

You're in the hospital.

- Don't worry. - Where's Yamam?

Yamam isn't here. And he's not coming.

- What are you doing here? - Listen to me, Olivia.

I want you to understand.

I haven't been honest with you.

I've been investigating you for weeks now.

I lied. I'm not in Istanbul on business.

I work at Interpol.

Olivia, you've been detained by the Turkish police.

If you want them to let you go,

it's very important you tell them the truth.

All right?

All right, just rest now.

THE TURKISH PASSION

I'd like to speak to you face to face.

I also wish we had all the time in the world,

but unfortunately for you, we don't.

Two of my partners are waiting outside for my orders

to take you to jail.

Do you really think I care?

Yes, I do.

That's why I'm here. I can help.

BASED ON THE BOOK LA PASIÓN TURCA BY ANTONIO GALA

The guys upstairs need a scapegoat.

They couldn't care less about the truth.

Luckily for you, getting to the truth is my only goal.

One year ago, you arrived in Istanbul and rented a flat

in the Cihangir quarter.

Is that correct?

I was a university professor in Madrid.

A tenured position became available,

and I came to Istanbul to prepare for my interview.

- Oli! Falafel girl! - No!

No! I can't believe it...

What better place...

to study the art of the Byzantine Empire?

What are you doing here?

We came to see you!

As if we haven't seen more than enough of you!

Two whole days in Istanbul for you to show us everything.

You guys are crazy! What a surprise!

You had no idea!

Oh, my gosh...

I'll bet you've been holed up in this cave all month.

Oh, stop.

Oli, I've known you since kindergarten. You can't fool me.

- Welcome to my cave. - This place is amazing!

- So pretty. - Look at this view!

Where's the bathroom? I wanted to go at the airport,

but your sister was in such a huge hurry.

On the left. You can't miss it, this place is small.

- Have you lost weight? - No, I'm exactly the same.

Thank goodness you're coming home to Madrid in a few days.

You'll be up to your neck in books and forgetting to eat.

Get out of those sweats and put some real clothes on.

- We're going out already? - "Already," she says.

We're not going to sit in here all weekend long,

or my name's not Esperanza.

Oh, my gosh. And what do you want to do?

The usual. Turkish baths, Turkish coffee. All things Turkish.

And a cruise down the Bosporus.

- Oh, God, not that. - Yes, exactly that.

You're not getting me on a boat, no way.

Enjoy the views.

You better believe we're enjoying the view.

Look at you, so discreet.

Hey, I was paying attention.

Oh, yeah? And what did he say?

I'll tell you exactly what he said.

He was talking about that palace, saying...

Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry.

He said that in that palace,

some of Turkey's most passionate love stories have taken place.

He said that's where Atatürk died.

The scholar speaks.

Girl, will you let a little fantasy in?

How many Turks have you picked up at the port?

See? Not one. She's too focused on her career.

But you're so smart, you're clever and independent...

- Okay, stop! - ...and pretty...

- An expert in the Ottoman Empire. - Byzantine.

Use these boobies to get your Turkish passion on!

It's not that easy, Espe. I can't just... No.

Girls, sometimes you gotta let yourself go.

- She's right. - You and your fantasies.

You think this is like TV or a movie, but it's not.

Come back down to earth.

Girls, I know a thing or two about Turkey.

- Oh, yeah? What are you doing? - Sorry, I just need to...

"Singing gaily on the poop, the pirate captain in a group,

sees Europe here, there Asia lies,

and Istanbul in the front arise."

You crazy girl!

You're nuts!

A toast!

To us. And to lifelong friendship.

To us.

Oh, that's strong.

No, no, leave that. I'm going to need it.

What are you doing?

So I can read the coffee grounds. That's what the Turks do, right?

See what the future holds...

Let's see.

Look at that.

It says you're going to find great happiness here.

- Oh, nice. - Yeah, right here there's

a smiley face and an enormous eggplant...

Amazing.

Will you look at that?

Can I be of help?

You will receive a proposal of love.

Is that right? Me?

Yes.

Soon a man will go to extremes for you.

Raw passion.

Until the end of his days.

Like I said, it's time to look for a man, don't you think?

Exactly as I predicted, girls.

- Love is in the air. - Love is all around us.

Shake that ass!

Girls, I'm going to get a refill. Be right back.

- Okay. - Bring back some shots!

I love Istanbul!

Hey, girls!

Girls, look who I found at the bar!

Pablo!

What are you doing here?

Oh, you know. How about you?

So... I texted your sister,

and told her I was going to be here too.

Be right back.

And she said she was coming for the weekend.

I didn't think we'd be getting together,

and I didn't imagine I'd be seeing you.

- It's been ten years... - Twelve.

Twelve years since the last time I saw you.

So what are you doing in Istanbul?

I was looking for a peaceful place to study.

One week until I put everything on the line.

Sounds important.

Yeah, I'm finally up for a tenured position.

Time to convince everyone that no one knows

the secrets of Byzantine relief better than me.

And what about you?

I work for a super boring international company.

Completely unrelated to what we studied in school.

But at least they let me travel from time to time.

- Married? - No.

Children?

No.

I came close to getting married, but...

- Life. - Life.

Yeah.

Can I tell you something? My heart is beating so hard.

It's like this is the first time I've ever seen you.

I don't know what to do.

- You don't? - No.

And what do you want to do?

- Morning. - Well, good morning!

If it isn't the Queen of Constantinople!

You could've texted to let us know you were okay.

Did you think she wasn't?

They were all over each other when they left the club.

I can't believe you made a plan with my ex without telling me.

I can't believe you two, you know that?

If we'd told you, you would've run off

and missed out on a night of pure passion.

- What? - I mean, it was nice...

It was fun. But Pablo's just a part of my past.

There's nothing more to talk about.

- Well, I'm going to get some sleep. - No.

- No, no, no. - No, no, no.

- You're coming with us. - No, please.

- No way! - I'm exhausted.

We've got some shopping to do.

- I'm just going in here, okay? - All right.

So pretty.

Beautiful.

One of the loveliest pieces in the shop, and...

it's authentic.

It was carved to commemorate an emperor's victory.

It was carved to imitate the Barberini diptych.

Visit the Louvre, and you can see the original.

Oh, an art lover.

It's more than love.

I hate to say it, but every piece you have in here

is a fake.

I'm not saying they're not beautiful. They are.

All right.

If you can guess which originals they're inspired by,

I'll treat you to the best coffee in all of Turkey.