User reviews

I saw this film yesterday for the second time (I originally saw it last year) and loved it as much as I did the first time. This is probably my favourite film in the last 12 months so hence the need to say my bit. There is a wonderful, powerful, visceral quality to this film which is extremely rare in any art-form (lets be honest), so credit needs to be placed where credit is due - and it is due in huge amounts here. 'Head On' takes you on an emotional journey to the edges of the human experience, tempered by an nihilism and a soul-searching despair that feels all too real. These are not so much characters but real people with real dilemma's, and their life experiences oozes from every visible pore. The two central performances are bloody amazing and a reminder of what real acting (and characterisation) is all about. The direction is profound, not to mention the wonderful soundtrack (the Birthday Party track much appreciated!!). I can't say anything but complimentary things about this film and in my humble opinion is a modern-day masterpiece. On the small off-chance that the actors/producers/ director or anyone connected to this film reads this, congratulations on a fantastic piece of film-making!

Gegen Die Wand is a major success of Turkish cinema, or rather Turkish and German cinema together. Yet another masterpiece created by Turkish-German synergy after the outstanding Lola + Bilidikid. Of course that one is more "subculture specific", but in the end the two deal with the lives of German Turks who are both German and Turkish, or more like neither German nor Turkish. So it seems like Turks and Germans can create great things together when they give up the Gastarbeiter vs. local attitude ;-)

Faith Akýn must be congratulated for his cast selection! Nobody could play Sibel better than Sibel Kekilli. Apparently, she doesn't only act, she adds something from her actual life. One way or another, she deserves an Oscar with her performance! The others are nowhere behind her, especially Birol Ünel makes you feel for his character. The "German Turks subculture" depiction is brutally realistic too. I don't think anyone shall have a single bad thing to say about this movie, that would be plainly ridiculous.

A love story, a profound depiction of social issues regarding the "German Turks", a virtual cultural journey. Everything, and everything good, exists in this flick! Thanks to Faith Akýn and the entire crew for bringing such a delight to life!

9/10

What a thrilling ride and what a powerful one. Lead actor looks like a brutish mixture of Jagger as Ned Kelly, Morrison, Iggy Pop and Nick Cave ,and acts like a monster. Two desperate people meet each with little to lose. The chaotic, rootless life they share brings them closer as they start to realize they have only each other. You can't take your eyes off male lead Birol Unel who drinks with utter abandon. This guy has turned a passion for living into a passion for dying. The suicidal Sibel who he meets is also charming in her willingness to push every boundary in search of a life she can live that makes sense to her. She is hemmed in by traditional Turkish mores and we are shown how wives end up in that culture--honored in gesture, completely devalued in practice.

Unel in his moody majestic splendor is reminiscent of the great Klaus Kinski in Aguirre, Wrath of God. We watch him cop out over and over from facing anything like commitment to life or people. But his relationship with Sibel, born in nihilism and total scorn for convention, prods to life whatever remaining feelings he still possesses.

What I love about this film is that it has real solid characters who are people that you care a lot about; it has education about the Turkish community in Germany and by implication about Muslims in Europe; it always shows and does not tell; it has wit and provocation and is multidimensional and makes you realize there are some things worth fighting for.

My friend commented after seeing it that a quick comparison of this film with most Hollywood product shows just what pap we are accepting from LA. Yay for rage, guts, blood, love and meaning. Thanks to the creators for a film that ranks with Last Tango in its rawness and power.

I caught this on the Sundance Channel last night. This is a great film. Proof, yet again, that there is an abundance of great film talent internationally (writing, directing, acting, photography, editing... all of it).

The acting is nothing short of remarkable, anchored by the exceptional performance of Birol Unel. Reminiscent of Mickey Rourke in Barfly or Gary Oldman in State of Grace, the intensity and tragedy of the character was evidenced in every look, word and gesture. It's refreshing to see this type of character in film... we don't see it much these days in American cinema. This was a truly authentic performance.

Sibel Kekilli also turned in a great performance of a girl who is equal parts willful, vulnerable, naive and resilient.

The writer/director, Faith Akin, clearly knows what he's doing. Just about every element of this film was compelling. I look forward to seeing his other films.

Check it out.

Gegen die Wand "Head-On"

By Malte006

I was really overwhelmed be this movie. I had read some articles about it – saying that this one was a great little gem from Germany. I starts out in a great pace and continues to hold this pace throughout the rest of the movie until the end, where it slows down – I bit much to down after my opinion.

The story is about two persons Sibel and Cahit. Cahit is an immigrant from Turkey at the age at 40 and is living as a bum – starting and ending his day with a box of beer. Sibel is a second-generation immigrant likewise from Turkey; a really nice-looking girl, who's passion of to become free from her religious parents and life her life with parties, sex and alcohol – like an ordinary teenager. But she has to get married to get away from her parents. So, she and Cahit make a pro forma marriage and officially they're now married happily with each other. Unofficially they continue their lives almost separately from each other. But then their emotions for each other suddenly evolve and a drama with many conflicts starts.

I really enjoyed this movie which includes great acting performances, a great script and a fantastic direction by Faith Akin.

9/10

Really. It is.

Absolutely brilliant. One of the greatest love stories I've ever seen in film. Still processing it really. Devastatingly real.

At first I must say that, we -who watched this film- discovered a real energy what Turkey needs in cinema sector. The director, Faith AKIN, is a great story teller and knows how to reflect the intersections of the people's personal seeking in the life. I think he tries to prove that the degeneration of the cultures can not be stopped and he always makes us to ask ourselves if the life of the characters suits on us or if they are doing the right things... Sibel Kekilli is acting good but Birol Unel is driving the movie. He shows what a lover man have to do with his own style and he deserves all the good words with his successful act. A very dramatic story on a long long bridge which connects two hearts and two countries... Do yourself a favor and rent this movie.

When I think of movies with characters stuck between two (seemingly) incompatible cultures I am a little put off because they are usually only understandable to people with the same problem (e.g. "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)"). With "Gegen die Wand" it's very different. The movie tells an universal love drama from a refreshingly modern point of view. I think, the intercultural aspect is a mere accessory part to add some exotic value to the story. This film is catching, sexy, honest and funny. And even though I might not agree with the attitudes of the director or some of the actors (as they put them forward in interviews) the movie is just plain good and a contribution to life itself! ...and the actresses are very pretty ;-)

'Gegen die Wand' (= 'against the wall' in German) excellently reflects a problem touching Western European society nowadays. It's about Europeans importing their labor-force from Turkey, Algeria and Morocco. Just like the Americans do from Mexico.

This movie deals with Turkish labor-immigrants in the big German harbor-town of Hamburg. Strongly rooted in their age-old, highly religious traditions, these people have trouble adapting themselves to the economic-dictated rules of western society. For instance, eating pig-meat is a deadly sin to them. For this reason they don't let their children play with German children, fearing they'll be wrongly fed by a well-meaning German mother. Isolation is there.

As clearly woven into this movie's plot, these immigrant's children adapt themselves much better than their parents do. By now every West European law court can testify, how big tensions on this can be within the Turkish community.

The great value of 'Gegen die Wand' lies in the honest exposure of this problem. Presented from a Turkish point of view, which is rare, and free of any prejudice. Understanding is eased here by showing a band playing/singing Turkish songs. The same goes for the shots from Istanbul, a pretty 'western-orientated' Turkish town.

The acting in 'Gegen die Wand' is excellent. Female lead Sibel Kekilli clearly shows she understands the workings of German society. By appearing naked for instance, an unheard-of sin in the tradition of her Turkish home-country.

"Gegen die wand" is a daring and original modern romantic movie, with not a joyful feeling all over it like you would expect from a genre movie but instead an heavy but also realistic and serious feeling all over it. It's European movie-making at its very best.

But "Gegen die wand" is so much more than just a 'love-story'. It above all is a real character movie. The movie mainly focuses on the two main characters, who both basically hit the bottom of life. They meet and decide to get married, for different reasons than love. They are two completely different personalities, who bluntly drink, do drugs and have sex with basically everyone that wants to. The more time they spent together, the better they begin to know each other. They begin to see through the other person's eyes that their lives is not what it is supposed to be and they slowly begin to see their shortcomings, which they at first simply did not care about. They ultimately begin to feel more and more drawn toward each other which eventually leads to the two falling in love with each other. But of course things become more and more complex as they fall in love. The people in this movie are real people, which makes it easier to identify with them. It also helps to make the events in the movie feel believable and real.

The story is told in a slow and realistic way. It takes its time to fully develop the characters, which helps of making them very realistic. Nothing in the movie feels really forced, which makes the drama feel real and powerful.

The actors and dialog also help to make all of it work. The dialog is realistic and very straight-forward. All of the actors suit their roles very well. Especially Sibel Kekilli is a real young new discovery.

The movie also shows some controversial and uneasy subjects, mainly regarding Turkish immigrants who are living in Europe. The portrayal of the conservative Turkish family is one of the many elements I'm talking about but also the whole Turkish customs and society in particular. The movie subtly shows some critique but without ever going too far of offending anyone.

The movie is just mainly above all a very realistic one. It's not afraid to show the dark, depressing, imperfect side of men. It's unlike any other film you've seen before. The storytelling is wonderful and makes this movie so much more than just a romantic movie, which in the end it really is. The drama/romance is mixed in an heavy way and it makes "Gegen die wand" not always an easy one to watch but certainly an experience that you'll not easily forget.

9/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

In 10 lines: Imagine getting on the Concorde entering a bizarre, mind-blowing situation without a parachute....there is no way back. Enjoy the ride! Imagine getting on the Concorde entering a bizarre, mind-blowing situation without a parachute....there is no way back. Enjoy the ride! Imagine getting on the Concorde entering a bizarre, mind-blowing situation without a parachute....there is no way back. Enjoy the ride! Imagine getting on the Concorde entering a bizarre, mind-blowing situation without a parachute....there is no way back. Enjoy the ride! Imagine getting on the Concorde entering a bizarre, mind-blowing situation without a parachute....there is no way back. Enjoy the ride!

You have those movies that immediately have all your attention from the start. This movie is one of them. A really great opening that set high expectation that gets delivered! It is a modern love story in a sad and difficult part of the European society. It's really special that it doesn't get sentimental during this (nicely) long story. Perfect performance by Birol Ünel and Sibel Kikulli who turn the good script into a moving movie. The music combines very well and underlines the right emotions. Very encouraging to see this quality from the German film industry, I am really looking forward to the next movie of Faith Akin.

"Head On," which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, is heady, provocative material.

Cahit Tomruk (Birol Ünel) is a forty-something punk rocker who lives in a haze of alcohol and drugs. He earns his living picking up post-concert beer bottles in a Hamburg club.

Sibel Güner (Sibel Kekilli) is a twenty-one year old high school dropout whose attitude toward life is best summed up by the Cyndi Lauper hit, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Never mind that Sibel tries to kill herself; what she wants is "to live."

Both Cahit and Sibel are Germans of Turkish descent who meet in the psych ward after separate failed suicide attempts. Not necessarily the ingredients for your standard love story, but "Head On," which takes its title in part from the way these two dive into their baser desires, is surprisingly romantic.

The premise that drives the plot is the sham of a marriage that Sibel coaxes Cahit to agree to in order to garner her freedom from the oppressive restrictions of her traditional Muslim family. They will be "like roommates," she promises Cahit. In return for his vows, she will stay out of his way and keep his apartment clean.

Cahit consents. Introductions are made, Cahit is approved by Sibel's family, and the union, however questionable, is given their blessings. The wedding comes off well enough, with both Cahit and Sibel seeming to revel in the culture that fundamentally binds them. No matter that neither one of them wants to honor those roots.

It's no surprise, but things immediately begin to disintegrate.

Cahit continues to see Maren (Catrin Striebeck), the hairstylist he occasionally beds, as Sibel engages in casual sex with a series of men whose only value to her is the experience she can obtain from them. It's painfully obvious that these two deceivers cannot live up to the pretense, but they are woefully unaware that their actions have consequences.

The stage is set for a collision of life-shattering proportions as their individual and bound lives careen further and more hopelessly out of control. The suspense is not in wondering if an accident is waiting to happen, but rather when, and how.

In this regard, "Head On," with its Greek-like chorus that periodically reminds us that a tragedy of epic proportions is unfolding, does not disappoint. Writer/director Faith Akin ("Im Juli," "Solino") has crafted a film that is not unlike a freeway disaster: despite the wreckage, it's impossible to turn away.

The compelling nature of the film is made more so by its two key performers. As Cahit, Ünel possesses a Mick Jagger-like presence, if a somewhat more dissipated version of that rock legend. He is an aging man who refuses to acknowledge his maturity, a child who does not recognize boundaries and who is given to violent public temper tantrums.

Kekilli's Sibel is at once refreshing and repellent, a wild child of insatiable lusts in a sensuous woman's body. The actress's history as a porn star is not wasted here. This is a physical role, and Kekilli is clearly comfortable in her body, whether clothed or disrobed.

Together, they create a tension that, given their characters' circumstances, hits all the beats. Despite the sense that these two troubled people are riding a runaway train to destruction, there are moments of tenderness between them, as when Sibel prepares a Turkish meal, or cuts Cahit's hair. Such moments hint at the possibility of domestication that leave us wanting more, even though they are woven into a tapestry of tangled events.

"Head On" (more literally, "Against the Wall") presents these events against a background of complexities that include the difficulties immigrants face in retaining their culture in a foreign country. In this case, it's the Turkish people who have come to Germany for work who are at issue. Akin, who is a German of Turkish descent, fleshes out the story line with subtle references to these social problems. He lets you know they exist, but he doesn't push your face in them.

Instead, he focuses on Cahit and Sibel, on whether or not they can change their world instead of changing the world, as a psychiatrist in an early scene suggests.

As the final refrain of the chorus tells us, "Over there on the mountain a beacon is burning." It is a beacon of love, even for misfits.

Not the usual romantic story. A beautiful film worth watching. Both protagonists are amazing, same goes for the supporting cast. The movie is highly rated, but still i must admit i didn't expect it to be that good. Full of energy and raw realism. The music was also a pleasant surprise. A must watch undoubtedly.

I have watched this movie many times..it's the feelings that hit you against the wall and leave you breathless.

RIP Birol.

Sibel Guner really tries to be happy! Through her struggle we all see how near and far happiness is! Her sexual life that seems to be without sentimentalism is a key for us to receive the deep inside her heart. After her one night stand affair,she smiles walking down the street,she restarts life with her hopes in heart everyday again and again. We watch her walking in the slow motion,this is also a very useful technical detail to show what a beautiful smile she has that reflects her soul! And thank you Faith Akin,this is a very sincere and charming work that doesn't need any complex plot! It is hard to define something as perfect,but 'Gegen Die Wand' is a must see movie!

Mukaddes Yasar/TURKEY

A classical study in inter-cultural conflict. In a Turkish immigrant family the daughter, who has grown up in Germany, refuses to marry some stranger, selected by her parents. This leads to a complete break-down in family relations and she leaves home. She meets up with another Turk who has dropped out of society due to his wife's death. They arrange a marriage of convenience so that the family will end their marriage plans in Lahore. The scene when this unwashed, hung over suitor and his friend are seated in the sofa with mom and dad asking for their daughters hand is just grand. From there on the film gives a realistic and extremely good description of the life facing many of the losers among young immigrant in Europe. A surprise ending. A comment on our times. A must for anyone interested in sociology.

Sibel is characterized by her Hamlet' s doubt: bride or unmarried? This is the the veiled base of the powerful dramaturgical engine. She wants to get married right away with the first Turkish man that meets in the psychiatric hospital.Both have survived death and she wants to get married conventionaly to escape from the repression of her family. She takes cure of Cahit, an addict of alcol and drug that likes punk. "Punk is alive" says Cahit as he is alive thanks Sibel' attentions that turn on the light in him. When this is becoming love, in a wonderful close- up,Cahit is happy and calm but Sibel is afraid and desperate. Sibel stop him and tell him: " If we do it, I become your bride and you become my husband". So she doesn' t want a real marriage with love although she loves him. A song of the minstrels that play sometimes in the inserts says: "To those love and have lost love, it happens to go out of your mind".

I believe that a romance film is as good as the couple and I surely remember this pair of outcasts. This kind of films, though, get seriously good when the subtle nuances of romance are told without saying, when the relationship can be further analyzed as to why it happened in the first place or what made it develop this or that particular way. I´m not gonna give any spoiler but this one can be discussed for a while. Then we get the awesome soundtrack to seal the deal.

I personally thought the story telling on this movie had several different layers of interpretation, which I personally like. It was shown to me how deep the characters and story were written with much thought. I personally just don't come across that in many independent films. If the story is garbage, the movie is garbage, this is not the case in this film. One great example was when Sibel cut her hair, Sibel, a hairdresser, can not only cut her own hair, but it can be taken that she needs to do so to hide from her family, but also suggest the huge change in her character at that moment in the story. It was obvious, but it didn't pull away from the story, and the meaning wasn't served on a silver platter. This transition, I thought, was executed very well.

When the viewer first meets Cahit, to me he is truly a beast. Shown visually in many different ways, some even humorous. And on the polar opposite, Sibel, the beauty, a young girl, who is able to use her youth and innocence to get what she wants. She is very much a child throughout the film, unaware of the consequences of her actions, and egocentric as well as needy, materialistic, and pretty. This movie is about them growing, and I don't think they could have changed unless they were in each others lives. However they meet in this world of dysfunction, and nothing about their relationship is healthy. This movie is not about becoming new people and getting a clean slate because of a relationship, this is not a Hollywood movie, where everyone finds a new meaning of love and enters the same relationship with a new hope that it will work this time around just because they have grown or matured or changed a behavior. Cahit and Sibel are very hurt and damaged people, and this movie suggests how hurt and damaged people enter and react to a new relationship. This movie is not about how people get damaged, but rather seeing how people live and deal when they are damaged. It does show the role of family of origin, tradition, society norms, but it does not place blame. For those who have been around self destructive people, I can only guess that you will find the characters' actions and reactions as realistic. The acting is superb in that sense. For example even Cahit's occupation choice promotes a realistic reaction to a damaged life. It was written, casted, acted, and captured with much thought and skill.

Side note: I really enjoyed the scene of the interview process for the marriage. Notice the position of how Cahit and his uncle are trapped on that couch, being studied and seeking approval, and how they held onto those tiny small cups.