Fatih Akin, “Gegen die Wand,” 2003. I have been thinking about this movie since yesterday. The director, as always, develops the topic of Turkish immigrants in Germany, but this time in a very extreme version. The film is made extremely naturalistic, which at times just repels me, especially in the themes of alcoholism and aggression,
more
Fatih Akin, “Gegen die Wand,” 2003. I have been thinking about this movie since yesterday. The director, as always, develops the topic of Turkish immigrants in Germany, but this time in a very extreme version. The film is made extremely naturalistic, which at times just repels me, especially in the themes of alcoholism and aggression, sex scenes are also very frank, especially given the fact that they were filmed by Turkish women.
Solid spoilers.
The main character Kakhit (Birol Junel) leads an almost antisocial lifestyle - lives in an apartment, which he turned into a dumpster, gets drunk almost to the point of unconsciousness from day to day and one of these days decides to take his own life, directing his car into the wall of the house, but he manages to survive. At the hospital, he meets a girl named Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), who was there for the same reason, who immediately put her eye on him, deciding that he was fit to carry out her plans. That’s just the reasons for the heroes’ suicide are different – Kahit can’t come to terms with the loss of his beloved wife, who died, and Sibel struggles to break out of the bonds of his Turkish family, with whom she does not manage to lead a life so desired by her: “I want to live, I want to dance, I want to fuck.” And not just one guy. She is looking for someone with whom she can get married. Kahit at first just shuns her, but she does not abandon her idea, literally pursuing him. In the end, she gets her way, he goes to marry her parents, making up a story about how he works as a manager at the club (actually, he collects bottles there). My parents bought it and the wedding took place. After her, each of them continues to lead a habitual lifestyle, he still gets drunk and sniffs coke, fucks a familiar woman, she also drinks and smells, and also fucks with anyone. However, gradually their way of life changes, Sibel brings order to the house of Kahit, it turns out that she even knows how to cook. Finally, they realize that they care about each other. As Sibel is used to being seen as an accessible woman, she continues to be molested by the guy she once slept with, but now it ends badly for him - after he provoked Kahita at a bar, calling him a pimp Sibel and offering money, Kahit freaks out and kills this guy by hitting him on the head with a bottle. Naturally, he ends up in prison, Sibel visits him there and promises to wait. However, the clouds over her thicken, her family, learning about what happened, cuts her off from his family, and her brother is so simply ready to kill, and she runs to Istanbul to his cousin, who meets her quite affable and even takes a job in the hotel, where she works. However, Sibel is not satisfied with this, having held out for a short time, she again goes into all seriousness, until one day she is attacked on the street by peasants, whom to some extent she provoked. They beat her and one even stabbed her. A few years later, Kahit is released from prison, in which he managed to get rid of his addictions, and goes to Istanbul to Sibel, hoping to find happiness with her. However, she has a new life with a new man and even a daughter. True, they meet, but then she does not come, he goes to his hometown alone.
The film is considered a film about the search for and finding their identity, the Turks there in Germany still remain strangers, so in this case, the return to their homeland is proposed as a way out, not only for Kahit, who has lived in Germany for 30 years, but also for Sibel, who was already born in Germany. What if it's head-to-wall again? Maybe he had a dream about this incident?
Of course, from the point of view of displaying the life of such a category of people, the film is very vital, obviously, but their life does not cause much sympathy in me, I have my own attitude to alcoholics, I have had to observe and encounter in life, it is very difficult not only for them who are going to such self-destruction, because this is how it ends in many cases, but also for people around them, it is impossible to coexist with such people, no matter how hard you try. The actors were chosen really well, the performer of the role of Kahit was an alcoholic himself in life, then, like Kahit, quit drinking, but this did not save him from an early death. And the actress in the role of Sibel, as it turned out, starred in porn films, which was very negatively perceived by the German-Turkish public. But the film is certainly strong, though, watched with some effort.
|
