Not Roxolana united: 8 fascinating films and TV series about sultans and concubines

In the "harem" series there is everything: betrayal, intrigue, love, power struggle, crimes and punishments… Therefore, one should not think that such paintings will appeal only to women and only to romantic natures. The series we want to tell you about below will captivate anyone!

And, contrary to popular misconception, they were shot not only in Turkey. There are works by Chinese, Japanese, and even Russian directors. Look!

"Yang Gui Fei" is a very beautiful film about a concubine of the Chinese Tang dynasty, who was able to go from an ordinary girl to the wife of the emperor himself. But the most interesting thing is that it was because of Yang Gui Fei that an entire empire died! Why? Take a look and find out for yourself.

The Russian TV series "Sultan of My Heart" tells the viewer the love story of the daughter of the Russian diplomat Anna and the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II. The girl gets a job as a teacher for the sultan's children, but suddenly trembling feelings arise between them. which they simply cannot resist.

The actions of this historical drama of Chinese production unfold in 1722. One of the main characters of the tape is the current emperor, who has three sons, four wives and a huge harem where fascinating things happen.

Compiling this rating, we simply could not help but mention the series "Magnificent Century. The Empire of Kesem." Its plot, for sure, is known to many: The Greek Anastasia is kidnapped from her native island and presented as a gift to Sultan Ahmed I. Several times the girl tries to escape, but when she realizes that it is useless, she takes the situation into her own hands, turning from an ordinary concubine into the most influential woman in the Ottoman Empire.

Another Russian-made series that tells the story of the abduction and further life of the girl Masha. She is being sold to the Sultan El Jirada, where a completely different world awaits the Russian beauty, other traditions and rules that she does not understand. But Masha, of course, finds salvation, and at the same time her love. How could it be any other way?

The Israeli TV series "Harem" is based on a true story Goel Ratzon, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2014 for polygamy and enslaving women. The script was written on the basis of an autobiographical story by one of the victims of Ratson Mayan Smadar. It is known that a man has been seducing women for years (in a variety of ways) and building something like a community with them, from which no one could leave voluntarily.

This Japanese series is a real break of patterns and a celebration of feminism. After all, where, no matter how in it you can see a harem consisting exclusively... of men. According to the plot, representatives of the stronger sex are massively destroyed by an unknown disease, and those few survivors are forced to accept matriarchal power and submit to women.

The famous film by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, though not new, is no less fascinating. In the film "Light the Red Lantern", the viewer will be told the life story of a young girl named Sunlian, who is forced to marry a 50-year-old feudal lord who already has three wives.

The youngest of the wives, that is, Sunlian, immediately becomes the object of universal hatred. The events that happen to her in the future make the film incredibly sad and morally difficult.