Head-On film review

certificate_18

HEAD-ON

Fatih Akin's film, which has won numerous awards in its native Germany and now receives a deserved international release, steadily transforms from black comedy to all-out tragedy in its depiction of two mismatched and ultimately star-crossed lovers. Cahit (Bruno Unel) is one of life's losers, a forty-something punk who lives for alcohol and earns a meagre living collecting glasses in a dingy bar. When he ends up in a psychiatric clinic after a botched suicide attempt, he meets the flighty Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), a 22-year-old trying to escape from the rigours imposed by her strict Turkish family. Noticing Cahit's faded Turkish background, she proposes and despite the unexpected nature of her request, he agrees to enter into a sham marriage with her.

The two move in together but lead separate lives: she lives by night in Hamburg's clubs, picking up men and buying drugs on a regular basis while he drinks and visits an occasional girlfriend. Slowly they are drawn together: the regular trips to her suspicious family begin to give them a shared bond, and when she decides to redecorate his apartment they start to lead a more conventional couple's life together. Soon this is matched by a sexual relationship, and lust turns inevitably into love. But Cahit's possessive temper and her background block the road to happiness. They are split after a fateful night's events and she is banished to Turkey.

As an examination of the culture clash facing expatriot Turks in Germany, or indeed the diaspora across Western Europe in general, the film is a success. Cahit is trying to put his Turkish history behind him and integrate himself into German life, but his relationship with his new in-laws forces him to confront his past. His attempts to speak broken Turkish with them are both humorous and touching, and a threatening relationship evolves between him and his new brother-in-law. Thanks to two towering central performances (Unel is a German veteran, while his counterpart was found in a shopping mall) it also works well as a relationship movie, with both actors creating an utterly believable partnership.