Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Topkapi Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 21, 2024

Jules Dassin's "Topkapi" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Rififi gets everything right. The mechanics of the work done in front of the camera, the characters that would think about doing it and their chatter, the atmosphere that would materialize once they roll up their sleeves. It is the kind of film a real thief would have shot to promote a brilliant job he and his partners had pulled off if he was gifted enough to operate a camera and bold enough not to care who would see it in the theater. It is why Rififi is rightfully considered one of the greatest heist films of all time. Jules Dassin directed it in 1955.

Tokapi, also a heist film, was completed by Dassin nearly a decade after Rififi. It is very loosely based on Eric Ambler’s novel “The Light of Day”, which very few people who went to see Topkapi had heard of. The main attraction in Topkapi was the impressive cast, which at least on paper was vastly superior to the one that was assembled for Rififi. Also, this time Dassin had a dramatically bigger budget to work with. These are all important details, but when brought together they are not why Topkapi turned out a very, very different film.

Topkapi is not like Rififi because it sells a fairy tale of the kind Hollywood likes to conceive. For this reason, it emphasizes glamour over accuracy, elegance over authenticity. It was also meant to be a promotional piece for one of its stars, Oscar nominated Greek actress Melina Mercouri, who would soon after marry Dassin. In other words, Topkapi had a compromised integrity before it was a finished film.

There is one other very big reason Topkapi could have never turned out like Rififi. Tokapi documents the work of a group of thieves who go to work to steal a precious dagger from the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul and everything they did before Dassin’s camera was very closely scrutinized by the Turkish authorities. It is not because these thieves, all of them played by famous actors, were brilliant. The Turkish authorities simply made sure that the only way Topkapi gets made is if Dassin and his cast did what they were told. In other words, even if Dassin had wanted to replicate the accuracy and authenticity of Rififi with a different screenplay and cast, he still would have failed.

So, what does this mean? Is Topkapi worth spending a night with? Is it even remotely entertaining as a heist film?

Mercouri is joined by Maximilian Schell, Peter Ustinov, and Robert Morley, plus several lesser-known but still quite good character actors. Many of them, but not Mercouri, are likable, and the final act, which reveals how the thieves enter the museum where the dagger is kept, is quite nicely shot. However, there is a lot of overlapping of contrasting material that is neither handsome nor effective, so it often feels like one is forced to endure it to get to the remaining material that is worth seeing. On top of this, nothing exciting happens there, just what one would rightfully expect from a proper heist film.

Topkapi might have been an easier film to endure without Mercouri, who is simply not right for her part. She visibly struggles with her lines and as the drama intensifies begins to look oddly detached from the rest of the cast. But Dassin was also one of the producers of Topkapi, so removing her would have collapsed the entire film.

Dassin used the services of the great French cinematographer Henri Alekan, who lensed such classic films as Beauty and the Beast, Roman Holiday, and Wings of Desire.

Topkapi Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Topkapi arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Topkapi made its high-definition debut with this release in 2014, which was sourced from an even older but quite nice master. This release introduces a new 4K makeover of the film.

Earlier tonight, I spent quite a bit of time comparing the new 4K makeover and the previous presentation of the film, and while there are some things that I like about the former, I must declare that the latter is more convincing. What do I like about the 4K makeover? It produces visuals with better density levels -- not dramatically better, but enough to appreciate the difference. These visuals are healthier, too. However, the improvements are cosmetic, meaning that they eliminate some nicks and scratches, plus the occasional blemishes. This is pretty much it. The new 4K makeover reveals plenty of color grading inconsistencies. They are introduced by a very light yellowish tint, similar to the one present on the 4K makeover of Secret of the Incas. It affects a lot of primaries and flattens many visuals. I could immediately tell that something was off because the opening credits of Topkapi are notorious for its color play. They look quite anemic now. The overall temperature of the visuals is affected as well. Examples can be seen here and here. In various darker areas, the new 4K makeover loses fine nuances that are very easy to see on the previous presentation. On the previous presentation, there is room for improvements too, but the color temperature, vibrancy of the visuals, and simply their dynamic range are clearly superior. Image stability is excellent. So, I think that the previous Blu-ray release has the more accurate presentation of Topkapi. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Topkapi Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Topkapi has always had an unconvincing audio. However, the big issues are directly related to the fact that Melina Mercouri mumbles a lot, so it is not easy to understand her lines. Some of the mass outdoor footage also allows a lot of organic sounds and noises to overlap, creating unevenness that is unavoidable, too. However, where the music is prominent, I think that dynamic contrasts are quite good, or at least given that Topkapi was produced in the early 1960s.

Topkapi Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded critics Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Topkapi. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art for Topkapi.

Topkapi Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Topkapi is supposed to be a very vibrant, very attractive film. After it was fully restored in 4K, it has a very subdued, often uncharacteristically flat appearance. I have Kino Lorber's original release of it and think that the old master that was used to source it, which has some undeniable limitations, treats it better.