Harem (film, 1986)

The film takes place in the last years of the absolutist Ottoman Empire . Jessica Gray is a young American. Her fiance Forest goes to the diplomatic service in Turkey. Together with his father, Jessica goes after him.

Jessica is kidnapped by revolutionary Tarik Pasha, a Turk who was educated at Oxford but returned to his homeland to fight against the absolute power of the Sultan. He needs a young girl to make a deal with the adviser of the Sultan Kizlyar-aga (the main harem eunuch). Kizlyar-aga is looking for a new beauty for her master’s harem, and Tariq Pasha wants to free his associates. So Jessica is in the harem of Sultan Hassan.

Brought up in the traditions of the West, the young girl does not want to become one of the many concubines of the Sultan and decides to run away. However, attempts to escape were unsuccessful, and the life of the Sultan seral, at first glance representing only idle idleness, had already shown the girl its opposite side. The most dangerous person in the harem is not Sultan Hassan, not Kizlyar-aga, but the first wife of the Sultan - Kadin. Aging Kadin is jealous and power-hungry, she watches with a keen eye to ensure that a new favorite does not come out from the crowd of concubines, who could encroach on her place near the Sultan. The Sultana skillfully uses her power and ruthlessly deals with the brave, but lonely and defenseless among envious, beautiful women. Jessica begins to realize that for starters she just needs to survive.

Kizlyar-aga, fearing Kadin’s ever-increasing ambitions, is going to make of his new rebellious “acquisition”, Jessica, the Sultan’s new lover and thereby limit Kadin’s interference in affairs. In Jessica, who grew up in a different culture, there is the same “highlight” that distinguishes her from the girls of the East - she is smart, has her own opinion and has the will. But at the same time, she still loses to numerous applicants for the Sultan's bed in the ability to seduce.

And on behalf of Kizlyar-aga, the former favorite of the Sultan of Ust begins to teach Jessica the art of subjugating a man and standing out among dozens of beauties. First, from hopelessness, and then with interest, Jessica comprehends the science of caring for her body, accepting it, ceases to be shy of the flesh and finds inner radiance.

Meanwhile, the groom and father of Jessica are actively searching. They receive confirmation of their hunch - the girl, indeed, is in the harem of the Sultan. For a great reward, they find a man who promises to enter the harem under the guise of a eunuch and kidnap Jessica. This person turns out to be Tariq Pasha - the same revolutionary who abducted Miss Gray for an exchange for his associates.

Raya completes her studies and introduces Jessica Hassan. To the fury of Kadin, a voluptuous man who has seen a lot in his life, is subdued by the languid grace, innocence and independent mind of a young American. By the time Tarik Pasha carries out the first half of his plan and receives the position of a bodyguard in a harem (for this he bribed a doctor who gave evidence that the young man is a eunuch), the harem himself was seized with a sensation: the sultan is not going to make a new lover his concubine, he is going to marry her, as required by the Qur'an, and make his second wife! And Jessica herself is no longer sure whether she wants to run away ... The Sultan does not use violence against her, she is fascinated by the mind and power of this man. The East, which seemed so alien, reveals its secrets to it ...

But the appearance of Tariq Pasha will again turn the girl’s world upside down. Recognizing the love of a young English diplomat and the passion of the almighty Sultan, she will choose the arms of a revolutionary and share both his struggle and his fate ...

• Nancy Travis - Jessica Gray
• Art Malik - Tarik Pasha
• Sarah Miles - Lady Ashley
• Yaphet Cotto - Kislyar
• Julian Sands - Forest
• Ava Gardner - Kadin
• Omar Sharif - Sultan Hassan
• Sheri Lungi - Usta
• Georgina Anderson - Aunt Lily
• George Camiller - Wesler Bay
• Jojo Kohl - Emily
• Carolyn Dorian - Victoria
• Sarah Crowden - Charlotte
• James Coyle - Sultan's Spy
• Michael Guilim
• James taylor
• Tony Spiridakis - Murat
• Shirley Kane

• Screenwriter: Carol Ann Hoffner
• Director: William Hale
• Producer: Michael Dryhurst
• Operator: Donald Morgan
• Composer: John Scott
• Artist: Simon Holland
• Costumes: Yvonne Blake
• Montage: Jason Krasuki , Peter Boyte and John Link

• " Harem ” on the Internet Movie Database
• Harem on the Rotten Tomatoes website
• Harem (English) on allmovie
• "Harem" on the site Film Ru