ABSTRACT
The above quotation is from a letter from the Orient, written by Madame Anita, a fictive character in the film Hamam. Madame travels from Rome to Istanbul just after the Second World War and never returns. In her letters back to Rome, she describes her life in Istanbul as ‘one long holiday’: transgressing the borderline betweenwork and leisure, her life is light and joyful. In Istanbul, she marries a local businessman, the owner of a series of coffee houses, but alas, the marriage lasts only a few months. With the money she is entitled to after the divorce, Madame Anita buys a decaying Turkish bath, a hamam. She restores it and runs it for many years, until hamams begin to lose popularity in Istanbul.
