`CROSSING THE BRIDGE' TALKS TURKEY, MUSICALLY SPEAKING.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

`Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul'' is a delightful survey of Turkish music's many intriguing variations, as well as a fascinating, if somewhat superficial, portrait of one of the most historic cities on Earth.

Directed by German-born filmmaker Fatih Akin, it's neither a simple love letter to his ancestral culture nor a scathing expose of modern Turkey's problems. Both views blend into a realistic, if not very deep, impression of an immensely complex country. But this documentary mainly plays as a transporting musical journey, back and forth across the Bosporus, East and West, the present and the wine-dark past.

We follow Alexander Hacke, the German musicologist and composer of the score to Akin's remarkable fiction feature ``Head-On,'' as he tries to get to the heart of the Turkish sound. It's a magnificently difficult task, as Turkey's European outpost is as cosmopolitan as any place on Earth and, consequently, subject to the full range of international as well as traditional influences.

So, early on, we mostly hear younger musicians work rock, punk, hip-hop and electronica genres through their distinctive Oriental time signatures. Then we move to more recognizably local Gypsy influences, master strummers of the oud and saz, the trance dance beats used by whirling dervishes, mesmerizing woodwind maestros and both the classic and latest manifestations of the indigenous pop scene.

We also learn how the politics of the last century have influenced the nation's musical culture. Soon after the modern country was established in the wake of World War I, real Turkish music was banned from the radio, which only led Muslims to build up a polyglot genre called Arabesque. In the 1980s, paranoia over Kurdish unrest led to prohibition of all ethnic minorities' cultural expressions (a policy that was reversed primarily because Turkey now wants to join the European Union). And interviews with a posse of street buskers shed light on the current states of art and society.

``Bridge's'' sonic and visual schemes are superior to almost any other music documentary's you could name. Perhaps it's the historic city's sheer, photogenic richness, but there's not a shot, whether it's at a landmark or in a slum, that doesn't look exquisitely composed and lit. Soundtrack music flows between performance pieces with entrancing, mood-shifting suppleness -- and often with rhythms that complement those of the on-screen images.

At the end, Hacke admits that he barely scratched the surface of Istanbul's soundscape. For a summary examination, though, ``Crossing the Bridge'' is remarkably satisfying.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

CROSSING THE BRIDGE - Three and one half stars

(Not rated: language, drug use)

Director: Fatih Akin.

Running time: 1 hr. 32 min.

Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

In a nutshell: Smart, blissfully transporting documentary about the current Turkish music scene. In German, Turkish and Kurdish with English subtitles, and in English.

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Alexander Hacke looks for the soul of Turkish music in ``Crossing the Bridge.''