Saturday, March 22, 2008

Auf der anderen Seite

Yasamin kiyisinda / Taivaan reunalla / Vid himlens utkant / The Edge of Heaven. DE /TR (c) 2007 Corazón International etc. D+SC: Fatih Akin. DP: Rainer Klausmann - 35mm - digital intermediate - 35mm print. M: Shantel. Starring: Nurgül Yesilçay (Ayten Öztürk or Gül), Baki Davrak (Nejat Aksu), Tuncel Kurtiz (Ali Aksu), Hanna Schygulla (Susanne Staub), Patrycia Ziolkowska (Charlotte 'Lotte' Staub), Nursel Köse (Yeter or Jessy). In German and in Turkish. 122 min. Released in Finland by Future Film, with Finnish and Swedish subtitles by Saliven Gustavsson. Viewed at Maxim 2, Helsinki, 22 March 2008. After the strong breakthrough of Gegen die Wand, an even better film about the German / Turkish clash of civilizations. A plot-driven film, where each turn brings us deeper into the characters, as we keep discovering new aspects of them. A film which is both intelligent and emotional, with characters that range from the brutal to the sensitive. A modern masterpiece worth revisiting and the kind of film one would like to see more. A rich array of locations, but a digital intermediate look, alas. The music is so fine, the announced soundtrack album would probably be worth hearing.
ADDED LATER Plot summary from IMDB: "Nejat seems disapproving about his widower father Ali's choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But he grows fond of her when he discovers she sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. Yeter's sudden death distances father and son. Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, a gesture not particularly pleasing to her conservative mother Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea is denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Lotte travels to Turkey,where she gets caught up in the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten." Written by omayra73@yahoo.com - A fine script full of unexpected turns. Also the character development is original, this is a story of growth, of personal growth, and of growth to understand others that are different. - Shantel's soundtrack is wonderful on the film, but the soundtrack album sounds more monotonous.

No comments: