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Head-On (2004)

Head-On (2004)
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German-born Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin writes and directs the drama Gegen die Wand (Head-On). Set in a working-class Hamburg neighborhood, the story follows two Turkish immigrants who get together in a marriage of convenience. Cahit Tomruk (Birol Ünel) is a heavy drinker and a fighter who crashes his car into a wall. While visiting his psychiatrist, Dr. Schiller (Hermann Lause), he meets fellow patient Sibel Guner (Sibel Kekilli). She's desperate to get away from her restrictive family, so she asks Cahit to marry her. Wanting to change his life anyway, Cahit agrees to the arrangement. After their wedding, Sibel celebrates her freedom by drinking, dancing, and having one-night stands. Meanwhile, Cahit carries on an intimate relationship with hair stylist Maren (Catrin Striebeck). Eventually, Cahit and Sibel learn to care for one another after a climactic trip to Istanbul. Head-On won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

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Starring:
Birol ÜnelSibel Kekilli, (more)
Director(s):
Fatih Akin
Theatrical MPAA Rating:
NR
Format(s):
DVD
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Synopsis of Head-On

German-born Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin writes and directs the drama Gegen die Wand (Head-On). Set in a working-class Hamburg neighborhood, the story follows two Turkish immigrants who get together in a marriage of convenience. Cahit Tomruk (Birol Ünel) is a heavy drinker and a fighter who crashes his car into a wall. While visiting his psychiatrist, Dr. Schiller (Hermann Lause), he meets fellow patient Sibel Guner (Sibel Kekilli). She's desperate to get away from her restrictive family, so she asks Cahit to marry her. Wanting to change his life anyway, Cahit agrees to the arrangement. After their wedding, Sibel celebrates her freedom by drinking, dancing, and having one-night stands. Meanwhile, Cahit carries on an intimate relationship with hair stylist Maren (Catrin Striebeck). Eventually, Cahit and Sibel learn to care for one another after a climactic trip to Istanbul. Head-On won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:
118 mins

Complete Cast of Head-On


Director(s):
Fatih Akin
Writer(s):
Fatih Akin
Producer(s):
Ralph SchwingelStefan Schubert
Theatrical MPAA Rating:
NR(Substance Abuse, Nudity, Adult Humor, Strong Sexual Content, Profanity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Graphic Violence)
Head-On Awards:
  • 2004 - Berlin International Film Festival - Golden Bear
  • 2005 - National Society of Film Critics - Best Foreign Language Film
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Member Reviews
 
Sandra B.

At first, I thought this movie was a comedy but as the story opened up I was drawn deeper into the characters and their drama's. The story is gritty and honest. It's about true love that is enduring but not conventional. It's about living life on your own terms. It's about choices. It's about reinventing yourself over and over. It's about authority, tradition and breaking the mold. It's about choices. It's about growing up and realizing...well, you will just have to watch it and find out. But be prepared to get drawn deeper and deeper into the character's lives until you realize that the movie is ending and you don't want it to. You want to know what happens in the future - how it all turns out. It definitely leaves you wanting more. The acting is deep and you bond with the characters. You root for them and you hate them. I want to see more movies with these actors. Watch this movie!

Yes   |   No

 
Keith G.

One of my favorite movies of recent years, Amazingly moving, bleak, sexy, funny, punky. Great acting, wonderful, simple photography, cool editing choices, and terrific music. An alcoholic, self-destructive Turk living in Germany agrees to marry young, borderline crazy, free spirited Turkish girl looking to get away from her family. This simple plot leads to a relationship of amazing complexity, and a love story of joy, humor, and heartbreak. This film established Fatih Akin as one of the best filmmakers we have working today.

Yes   |   No

 
James V.

When I was a young man, the movie tag line "Love Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry" achieved a certain cachet via an ultra-dumb book and film (the author and title of which shall go nameless in order to protect the guilty). Fortunately, moviegoers have grown up some since then, as the arrival of Fatih Akin's German/Turk movie HEAD ON makes clear. Here, love means all sorts of weird things, none of them as simple-minded as never having to say, well, anything at all. Is this film a rom-com? No: Too full of suicide attempts, slashings and violence for that. It's no rom-trag, either: Too light on its feet and frisky to qualify for heartbreak. It’s a love story, plain and not-so-simple, with self-destructive characters--beautifully played by all the actors--who entice you, then hold you fast. There is also context here (economic, religious, cultural, social)--thank you very much. I moderately enjoyed Mr. Akin's earlier "In July," but it didn't prepare me for anything like this!

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