NOTE: you might find the film by the title AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE (transtlated as ON THE OTHER SIDE).
Here's a clip from the film, followed by themovieslave's review.
It has been a very long time since my last review and so I decided to contribute once again something cool... my thoughts on Fatih Akins latest film "The Edge of Heaven" (original German title: "Auf der anderen Seite").
Let's start this way: Fatih Akin is probably one of the most famous German (and Turkish) writers/directors in Europe. His big breakthrough was in 2004 with "Gegen die Wand" (international Title: "Head-On"), for which he won the big prize at the Berlin International Filmfestival. He was born and lives in Hamburg but his origins are in Turkey and almost every single film of him so far has dealt with Turks living in German.
This film is no exception. But for me "The Egde of Heaven" (I actually don't like the international title... "Auf der anderen Seite" actually means "On the other side" and is a much more suitable title) is much more. I'll try to give you a look into the story without spoiling too much.
The film is seperated in three chapters and deals with the story of six different persons. In the centre of the story are conflicts between a father and his son and a mother and her daughter. Nejat, a Professor at a German University, is often angry about his Turkish father Ali because he is an alcoholic who spends most of his money on gambling and prostitutes. One day a Turkish prostitute moves into Alis flat. He pays her 3000 euro a month to stay with him but in the meantime, she starts to like Ali. But one night they have a fight and Ali kills her accidently.
Not knowing that her mother is death, her 27-year old daughter named Ayten comes from Turkey. She is looking for her mother and one day she meets Lotte, a German girl who she falls in love with. After one year of staying with Lotte the German police finds out that Ayten is an illegal immigrant and she is send back to Turkey, where she is arrested because of her political opinions (which are very liberal and not corresponding to the Turkish law system). Lotte follows her love to Turkey and is later killed by a gang member. Lottes mother than travels to Turkey in order to finish what her daughter has begun: She wants to get Ayten out of prison.
The story takes another complicated twist when Nejat shows up in Turkey and when he meets Lotte's mother.
I have already given you enough of the story and it is simply too complex to continue. Plus it would be a big spoiler. The stories between Lotte's mother and Ayten and the story between Nejat and his father Ali continue and you should simply watch it yourself.
Basically it is a film about loss (especially in form of death) and how the death of a person can also mean an approach to a person.
I really like the film and the best thing about it is Fatih Akin's screenplay. As you have already read, the story is pretty complicated but you never lose the overall view. But in my opinion, this is another classical European masterpiece: Great screenplay, great dialogues, but only mediocre direction.
The film suffers from a problem that many European films have: The writer/director thing. Fatih Akin is more a writer than a director and unfortunately you can see that in this film. The locations and angles often make the impression of being chosen accidentally.
Still, this film is easily one of the best European films of 2007. The actresses and actors, especially Tuncel Kurtiz, who plays Ali, are great. They never overact, they are always natural and you simply enjoy watching them. According to the imdb this film will have a limited release in the States on May 21 and I really recommend it to you guys.
Best regards from Austria.
themovieslave
