GATHERING STORM: If you have even the smallest impulse toward collecting -- whether it be baseball bobblehead dolls, family keepsakes, kitschy postcards, or classic magazines -- be warned: Watching ''The Collector" could be an extremely uncomfortable experience.
The film, which screens Friday and Nov. 28 at the Harvard Film Archive as part of a series of contemporary Turkish documentaries, follows a dapper, mustachioed retiree on his daily walks around Istanbul. Briefcase in hand, he peruses bazaars looking for watches, green rosaries, bread labels, pens, used lottery tickets -- you name it. One of each object is for his personal use, one for his collection. ''I have a passion for collecting almost everything," he acknowledges.
He's been at it for more than 70 years, and his ''hobby" is clearly out of control. When he goes home, he can barely squeeze through the door past the piles of newspapers. Rare coins from ancient Byzantium are buried somewhere underneath them. Newspapers block his kitchen sink. He's almost apologetic about it all, but proud, too -- even as he explains how he delicately pares fish so he can keep their skeletons.
Director Pelin Esmer made the film about her uncle, and she was worried how he'd react to it. But he liked it, she says -- and asked for two copies. One for him, and one for his collection.