'The Ottoman Lieutenant' loses box office war
“The Ottoman Lieutenant,” the first Hollywood production to reflect Turkey’s perspective on the Armenian genocide, has been criticized both for its outlook and its artistic merit.
With its story of a love triangle between a strong-minded American nurse, a rugged Ottoman soldier and a zealous American doctor, it would be easy to classify “The Ottoman Lieutenant” as a classical romance set in a picturesque Anatolian town at the dawn of World War I. Yet the film, which takes place in the Turkish city of Van — a scene of bloodshed between Turks and Armenians — has been the cause of wide controversy both in the West and Turkey.
Despite the attention it has received in the media due to its subject matter, the film has not done well at the local box office, totaling 41,578 viewers so far.
