Hollywood Djinn

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Uncharted 3 started me thinking about Hollywood and the way djinn are portrayed in film. I've seen them ghostly, fiery, and without a specific corporeal shape most often. Must be tough to act when your character is a cloud though. Only Robin Williams does well with the blue puffy look.

Then Clash of the Titans, v2010, came up with some story of djinn who gave up their bodies for what looks like charcoal briquettes. Glowing blues eyes complete the cheesy effect. But this is Clash of the Titans - so cheesy is what it's all about. ;)

Actually, as characters, they are pretty decent. They help Perseus out and are instrumental in defeating Medusa. Most other movies give the djinn a nasty reputation for death and destruction. Maybe spelling it "djinn" versus "genie" has something to do with the creepy coefficient?


Then there's Wishmaster,1997. This guy just looks like Satan in a red cloak. What's up with the horns and claws? I suppose being evil entitles a djinn to whatever he wants, but... I'm not buying the look, even if it makes me wonder if my djinn need an image consulation. If I was an evil mastermind, I'd want to look pretty darn ordinary and let people think I was just like them, until I trapped them between a rock and a hard place. What do you think? What other djinn have you seen in the movies?

Traditional Melodies

Image via Wikipedia

The Turkish saz, sometimes called the bağlama, is a long-necked cousin of the Middle Eastern Oud and the Western renaissance lute. It's the signature sound of arabesque Turkish classical music.

Like a piece of art, the back of a saz often features bands of gorgeous wood in varieties of mulberry, juniper, beech, walnut or spruce and the neck can be embellished with intarsia. The electro-saz, on the other hand, can look like something out of a rock band.  Kind of like a guitar, the saz comes in different colors and sizes and there are people who can make those few simple strings do magical things.

The clip from TRT is pretty traditional, until the musician switches to the "Pink Panther" theme and then on to some other riffs. Enjoy!

Related articles

• Music Review: Lute Fanciers Meet 3 Stars From the Past (nytimes.com)
• Musician Khyam Allami on how the 'ud changed his life (guardian.co.uk)
• Istanbul International Ud Festival