Other Titles • Head-On • Gegen die Wand (2004) • Duvara karsi
Synopses for Head-On (2004)
1.
One of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, Head-On follows two young Turkish-Germans who are forced into a marriage of convenience which ultimately blossoms into a bond of mutual admiration. Erotically charged, darkly funny, Head-On is a journey you won't forget.
(21 votes)
2.
Fatih Akin's HEAD-ON (GEGEN DIE WAND) is a powerful film about sexuality and suicide, centering on two Turks living in Germany. Drunken loser Cahit (Birol Unel) drives his car into a wall; Sibel (Sibel Kekilli) slashes her wrist because she can't stand living with her traditional Muslim family. The two meet in the hospital and decide to join in a marriage of convenience in which he can get himself a cute young housekeeper and she can finally move away from home. They live together in Hamburg, where she begins to sleep around dangerously and he grows surprisingly jealous, leading to tragedy. To a soundtrack of 1980s music (Depeche Mode, Talk Talk, Sisters of Mercy), their lives continue to fall apart, lost to a world of lies and deception, drugs and violence, and emotional pain.
Filmed on location in Germany and Turkey, HEAD-ON is an intense look at two lost souls who can't stand life as they know it. They spend a lot of time in clubs, trying to drink and dance away their troubles, but they seem doomed to constant failure and unhappiness. Unel and Kekilli are shockingly realistic in the lead roles, adding to the overall poignancy of the harsh and disturbing film. There is a large Turkish contingent living in Germany, many of whom came over in the 20th century seeking employment; in HEAD-ON, Akin delves into the resultant changing cultures with deep insight in this moving drama.
(21 votes)
3.
Head-On, Fatih Akin's gritty drama, is like a great punk-rock song-- rough around the edges, but filled with heart. Cahit (Birol Ünel) is a middle-aged drunk whose apartment looks like the toilet in Trainspotting. Sibel (Sibel Kekilli) is a suicidal woman half his age, stuck at home with repressive relatives. They're two troubled Turks, adrift in Germany. A chance encounter at a psychiatric hospital represents a way out. If Cahit will marry her, Sibel can flee her family. They'll accept him, because he's Turkish. As for Cahit, he won't be alone anymore, left to mourn his dead wife and drink his life away. At first, things go as planned. Sibel moves into Cahit's dump and spiffs it up. The two live, eat, and party together, while continuing to see other people. Gradually, their marriage of convenience starts to resemble the real thing--until Cahit's violent tendencies get the best of him. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
(20 votes)
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