Upon taking the mission of tracking down the lieutenant accused of betrayal, Lillie Row, a young beautiful and courageous nurse, who by the war, makes her mind to help people and country, but struggles against falling in love with Ismail, the thing that brings terrible for her, as she has to choose either loyalty or love.
Odious propagandistic attempt to enshrine Turkish denial of the Armenian genocide of World War I into cinematic history via a tepid and unconvincing romance.
I'm sympathetic to the filmmakers whose craftsmanship went into the movie. Absent historical context this would be adequate light far... but the weak script/dialog and narrative retcon can't be ignored and spoils their efforts.
"The Ottoman Lieutenant" is an overwrought nurse romance merged with a history lesson, a combination that is hard to take as seriously as the film wants to be taken.
An enlightening film could be made about the Ottoman Empire in the days before World War I, that particular place at that particular time, but The Ottoman Lieutenant isn't it.
The by-the-numbers story never achieves its aimed-for grandeur or intensity, and the striking Turkish locations prove far more interesting than the characters.
An old-fashioned melodrama with little imagination when it comes to creating scenes such as the ones where the couple is riding through the countryside or is taking a romantic boat ride. [Full review in Spanish]