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(out of 5)

The experiences of Turkish immigrants living in Germany has been the subject of a few films in recent years, but none have been quite as memorable, powerful or vivid as this brilliant movie by Fatih Akin. Birol Ünel is marvelous as Cahit, a German Turk who is on a downward spiral of depression and lands himself in a clinic after a suicide attempt. There he meets young Sibel (a fantastic Sibel Kekilli), a Turkish girl who just wants to party non-stop and enjoy lots of sex with young men, but whose religiously conservative Muslim family keeps her so tightly pent up that she has tried the suicide route as well. She meets Cahit and begs him to marry her, promising that she won’t be any more than a good roommate and won’t require anything of him beyond the nuptials.  From there begins a fascinating journey into the consequences of misogyny and religious fanaticism, repressing this young woman so much and for so long that it eventually endangers her life. Akin’s direction is spot-on, maintaining the flow of the story and the intensity of the characters throughout, and the beautiful soundtrack (a clever combination of raucous punk and traditional Turkish) accentuates every turn that the plot takes. A European classic for the new millennium, and one of the very best films of its year.

Arte, Bavaria Film International, Corazón International, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Panfilm, Wüste Film

Germany/Turkey, 2004

Directed by Fatih Akin

Screenplay by Fatih Akin

Cinematography by Rainer Klausmann

Produced by Andreas Schreitmuller, Stefan Schubert, Ralph Schwingel, Jeanette Wurl

Music by Alexander Hacke, Maceo Parker

Production Design by Tamo Kunz

Costume Design by Katrin Aschendorf

Film Editing by Andrew Bird