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Birol Unel,
Birol Unel,
Sibel Kekilli,
more...
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Fatih Akin,
Fatih Akin
see all cast/crew...
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: Strand Home Video
: Drama, Foreign, Germany
: 118 min.
: German, Turkish
: English
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German-born Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin writes and directs the drama Gegen die Wand (Head-On). Set in a working-class Hamburg neighborhood, the story follows two Turkish immigrants who get together in a marriage of convenience. Cahit Tomruk (Birol Ünel) is a heavy drinker and a fighter who crashes his car into a wall. While visiting his psychiatrist, Dr. Schiller (Hermann Lause), he meets fellow patient Sibel Guner (Sibel Kekilli). She's desperate to get away from her restrictive family, so she asks Cahit to marry her. Wanting to change his life anyway, Cahit agrees to the arrangement. After their wedding, Sibel celebrates her freedom by drinking, dancing, and having one-night stands. Meanwhile, Cahit carries on an intimate relationship with hair stylist Maren (Catrin Striebeck). Eventually, Cahit and Sibel learn to care for one another after a climactic trip to Istanbul. Head-On won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
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| Light at the end of the tunnel
by brakhage
October 24, 2005 - 6:44 AM PDT
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4 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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Once again, talltale is the first out of the gate with a great review. How does he do it? (And how do I get the films before he does?)
I was getting Leaving Las Vegas flashbacks watching Birol "The Turkish Klaus Kinski" Unel do his man-on-the-edge thing, but his journey through the emotional peaks and valleys of the story was just fascinating. We're given just enough of his and Sibel's pasts to know that these two are more likely to destroy each other rather than save themselves.
The director is also interested in the tension between the permissive, Western culture of booze, drugs, and promiscuity and the honor-driven, repressive, stultifying world of the Turks - each has its horrors, and neither satisfies; the two lovers have to transcend both, as well as their own worst tendencies.
A spectacular film that will stay with you for a long time. Each of the characters ends up in a place you wouldn't expect, but the transition each takes is perfectly believable. I would recommend the 'Making of' film, shot by an intern on set, which is refreshing and candid compared to the pathetic showreels masquerading as 'Making ofs' on most DVDs. |
| Rom/Com/Trag--and more
by talltale
September 15, 2005 - 9:07 PM PDT
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5 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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When I was a young man, the movie tag line "Love Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry" achieved a certain cachet via an ultra-dumb book and film, the author and title of which shall go nameless in order to protect the guilty. This line was one of the stupidest and nonsensical to have appeared in the history of the English language, since true, long-lasting love means saying "sorry" rather often, as it turns out. Fortunately, moviegoers have grown up some since then, as the arrival of Fatih Akin's German/Turk movie HEAD ON makes clear. Here, love means all sorts of weird things, none of them as simple-minded as never having to say, well, anything at all.
Is this film a rom-com? Not really: Too full of suicide attempts, slashings and violence for that. Yet, it's no rom-trag, either--that's for sure: Too light on its feet and frisky to qualify for heartbreak. It's a love story, plain and not-so-simple, and the characters, as self-destructive as they may be--and beautifully played by all the actors--will entice you, then hold you fast throughout. In addition to love and full-bodied characters, there is context here (economic, religious, cultural, social)--thank you very much. I moderately enjoyed Mr. Akin's earlier "In July," but it didn't prepare me for anything like this! |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.65)
51 Votes
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