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Sounds pulsate through 'Crossing the Bridge'

What does Turkish music sound like? Is it strummed on an oud or blasted from loudspeakers? Is it glossy and romantic or fervently political?

Few regions with anything like a diverse population, of course, produce only one kind of music. But as this new documentary contends, Turkey offers a particularly heterogeneous musical landscape.

Strand Releasing 'Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul' 3 out of 5 stars The verdict: Variety is the spice of this documentary, which includes some stirring performances. Director: Fatih Akin Starring: Alexander Hacke, Baba Zula, Erkin Koray, Mercan Dede, Selim Sesler Run time: 90 minutes Release date: June 9, 2006 Rating: Not rated. On the web Official movie site Rate 'Crossing the Bridge' Go see it 80.00% 4 Make it a matinee 0.00% 0 Wait to rent 20.00% 1 Don't bother 0.00% 0

In Istanbul, a city here described as "a bridge crossed by 72 nations," geographic and cultural delineations between East and West often don't ring true. Some interviewees in "Crossing the Bridge" see themselves as more or less European; some are anything but. Some form psychedelic rock bands inspired by Pink Floyd; some practice traditions that have evolved over centuries. The movie (directed by Fatih Akin, best known for his fiction feature "Head-On") sets out with the perhaps impossible goal of making sense of this hodgepodge.

Our guide is Alexander Hacke, guitarist for the German noise band Einstürzende Neubauten, who got interested in the Istanbul scene while composing a soundtrack for one of Akin's previous films. A disheveled guy with wild hair and a tendency to flail around when he's really enjoying a band's performance, Hacke records and often sits in with a wide variety of artists.

His personality steers the film at first, when the newcomer meets bands and hip-hop artists mostly influenced by American-derived music. In between recordings he sits listening to buskers and breakdancers ponder the meaning of what they do. But he slips respectfully into the background when observing artists whose points of reference are not his own: the Kurdish singer whose dirges have at times been banned by the government; the movie star whose polished nostalgia somehow commands the admiration of even Wu Tang-loving teens.

The performances are strong and occasionally — as with an impromptu, beer-fueled bar performance by Romany instrumentalists — thrilling. The selection is varied enough to hold the interest of a casual musicologist, although it never achieves the must-see transcendence of, say, "Latcho Drom." As he packs his bags to return to Germany, Hacke admits that he hasn't really made sense of it all; in the end, he's just happy to have experienced so much in such a short time.