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With Fire and Sword (1999) More at IMDbPro »Ogniem i mieczem (original title)

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28 March 2012 9:23 AM, PDT | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

There's always a loser when two sides go to battle, and movie dramatisations of historic events are no different

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Truth is famously the first casualty of war – and that goes double as soon as a film crew moves in. Turkey has discovered this with its recent bastion-storming blockbuster, Fetih 1453 (Conquest 1453). A scimitars'n'cgi blockbuster account of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in the 15th century, it is the country's most expensive film ever ($17m budget), most popular (4.6m tickets in its first 18 days) and most lucrative ($29m and counting).

But if you think the smell of unanimity is in the air, think again. Plenty of folk have queued up to question Fetih 1453's take, with its gleaming portrayal of Mehmed II, all-conquering bringer of the Ottoman empire's golden age. »

- Phil Hoad

1 item from 2012